Sunrider Rewritten
by CommissarZek
Summary: Sunrider Rewritten as if Kayto is ACTUALLY in the military. Hilarity ensues. Expect divergence at some point. Currently on Hiatus because I'm a lazy shit.
1. Dramatis Personae

_This is the Dramatis Personae of this Fanfiction. Mostly. Basically, if someone appears here, they're likely to appear more than once in this story. It's all Sunrider crew because that's where all major changes are, I think there's a grand total of five characters that exist by Chapter 10 that appear more than once._

* * *

 **Administrative**

 **Captain Kayto Shields** \- Captain of the CSF _Sunrider_. Lived in Cera City. Entered Ceran OCS after Secondary School. Graduated second in his class. Distinguished service on board the CSF _Aegirian_ brought him to the eye of CSF High Command, eventually earned promotion to Captain and the _Sunrider_. Whereabouts currently unknown.

 **Commander Ava Crescentia** \- Executive Officer onboard the CSF _Sunrider_. Lived in Cera City. Enlisted in CSF immediately out of high school, rose through ranks and entered OCS several years afterwards. Graduated First of Her Class, spent a tour on the CSF _Ghudri_ before being assigned to the _Sunrider_

 **Petty Officer First Class Charlotte Harker** \- Administrative Aid to Shields and Crescentia on the CSF _Sunrider_. Equivalent of Seneschal.

* * *

 **Ryder Maintenance**

 **Lieutenant Darlene Elletson** \- Head of Maintenance of Ryders. She spent several tours onboard other CSF Carriers before being referred to the _Sunrider._

 **Chief Petty Officer Shad Levings** \- Docking Manager, oversees docking procedures and initiates emergency lockdown in case of atmospheric release. He enjoys his position

 **Petty Officer First Class Bonita Gravelle** \- Welding Technician

 **Specialist Ruth Franklin** \- Welding Technician

 **Specialist Sarah Bird** \- Machinist, manufactures new Ryder Parts with aid of Chigara

* * *

 **Ryder Division**

 **Asaga "Princess" Oakrun** \- Pilot of the Black Jack, Asaga is a former mercenary and revealed Princess of Ryuvia. She escaped with friend Chigara, and protected various convoys in the Neutral Rim.

 **Chigara "Chief" Ashada** \- Sole Survivor of the Diode Catastrophe, Chigara is an expert in technological matters, aiding her friend Asaga in repairs and occasional battles.

 **Icari "Cold Shoulder" Isidolde** \- Alliance Contractor turned Mercenary turned Sunrider Ryder, Icari is a powerful melee Ryder combatant, known for her fast and deadly actions in space. Also definitely does not like the captain. At all.

 **Claude "Lust" Triello** \- Sunrider's self-declared doctor, she is not. Why she hasn't been sent to the brig or abandoned on a random planet is solely due to her Ryder Performance...and fact that hers is one of a few Ryders on the Sunriders.

 **Sola vi Ryuvia** \- Sola vi Ryuvia is an interesting case - born millennia ago, she was engaged in a civil war that ended in her freezing aboard the Sharr' Lac. She is an expert shot, better than any other crewmember.

 **Lieutenant Kryska Stares** \- Debate rages whether she was once a civilian or was born in a barracks, either way, she is a competent Alliance Pilot assigned to the Sunrider for the duration of the war.

* * *

 **Chaplain**

 **Lieutenant Commander Scott Rauth** \- This well-read and unchanging but unreliable 38-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a dark olive complexion, and wavy auburn hair in a butch cut. He is very short and fit. Lieutenant Commander Rauth previously served aboard the CSF _Mercurius_ (DD-59).

* * *

 **Combat Systems**

 **Lieutenant Commander Mark Thompson** \- This articulate and familial but grim 32-year-old man has blue eyes, a freckled complexion, and straight strawberry blonde hair cut regular. He is a little short and chubby. Overall Commander of the Weapons Department

 **Lieutenant Commander Roger Mcclain** \- This circumspect 35-year-old man has gray eyes, a deep dark complexion, and thick strawberry blonde hair in a flat top. He is tall and quite muscular. Bridge Commander of the Weapons Department - renders orders to them.

 **Lieutenant Glenn Lawrence** \- This deceptive 46-year-old man has blue eyes, a tanned complexion, and wavy brown hair in a butch cut. He is of average height and heavyset.

 **Ensign Thomas Vanderloo** \- This courteous and authoritarian 40-year-old man has gray eyes, a tanned complexion, and wavy blonde hair left uncut. He is of average height and quite attractive.

 **Petty Officer First Class Jorge Sterling** \- This patriotic but steely 28-year-old man has brown eyes, a dark complexion, and fine brown hair in a military regular cut. He is very tall and slender.

 **Petty Officer Second Class Stephen Davis** \- This faithful and dreamy 23-year-old man has gray eyes, a fair complexion, and wavy brown hair in a crew cut. He is a little tall and somewhat unattractive.

 **Crewman Larry Porte** \- This contradictory 18-year-old man has dark brown eyes, an olive complexion, and thick black hair in a butch cut. He is a little short and well-built.

 **Crewman Danny Russell** \- This steadfast and conservative 18-year-old man has green eyes, an olive complexion, and curly dark brown hair in a crew cut. He is very tall and quite athletic.

* * *

 **Deck Department**

 **Petty Officer First Class Marion Helms** \- This admirable 26-year-old man has blue eyes, a rosy complexion, and fine blonde hair cut short. He is very short and quite heavy.

 **Petty Officer First Class Victor Essary** \- This extraordinary but astigmatic 27-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a tanned complexion, and straight light brown hair cut regular. He is short and quite thin.

 **Petty Officer First Class Thomas Jackson** \- This appreciative and unceremonious 27-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a pale complexion, and wavy red hair in a butch cut. He is very tall and quite muscular.

 **Petty Officer Second Class Arthur Ayala** \- This masculine and noncompetitive but unreflective 23-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a dark complexion, and curly dull blonde hair left uncut. He is very tall and very good looking.

 **Petty Officer Third Class Fred Miller** \- This sane and uninhibited but unconvincing 24-year-old man has dark brown eyes, an olive complexion, and straight black hair in a crew cut. He is of average height and athletic.

 **Petty Officer Third Class Elizabeth Vance** \- This planful 23-year-old woman has dark brown eyes, a fair complexion, and thick jet black hair pinned neatly back. She is of average height and lean.

 **Specialist Craig Martinez** \- This faithful and emotional but imitative 21-year-old man has green eyes, a fair complexion, and thick blonde hair cut regular. He is tall and well-built.

 **Crewman Apprentice Cecelia Spooner** \- This genuine but insincere 16-year-old woman has gray eyes, a rosy complexion, and thick jet black hair cut short. She is short and quite muscular.

* * *

 **Engineering**

 **Chigara "Chief" Ashada** \- Sole Survivor of the Diode Catastrophe, Chigara is an expert in technological matters, aiding her friend Asaga in repairs and occasional battles. She now resides are the Sunrider's Chief Engineering Officer

 **Lieutenant Commander Thomas Brown** \- This idealistic 28-year-old man has hazel eyes, a deep dark complexion, and wavy platinum blonde hair in a crew cut. He is a little tall and lean.

 **Petty Officer First Class James Stover** \- This skillful and impassive 25-year-old man has gray eyes, a pale complexion, and wavy brown hair cut short. He is tall and somewhat unattractive.

 **Petty Officer First Class Charles Sheppard** \- This strong but secretive 27-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a rosy complexion, and straight jet black hair in a flat top.

 **Specialist Ashley Mccall** \- This attractive 21-year-old woman has hazel eyes, a tanned complexion, and fine light brown hair worn mid-length. She is very short and quite athletic.

* * *

 **Maintenance**

 **Chief Petty Officer Phillip Rich** \- This sweet and restrained 28-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a fair complexion, and straight blonde hair in a butch cut. He is very short and quite thin.

 **Petty Officer Second Class Sheila Frenz** \- This orderly and modern but criminal 23-year-old woman has green eyes, a pasty complexion, and curly auburn hair in a short ponytail. She is very short and somewhat thin. Petty Officer 2nd Class Frenz previously served aboard the CSF _Black Eagle_ (LCM/LCU-62).

 **Petty Officer Third Class Diane Tullis** \- This neat and glamorous 23-year-old woman has green eyes, a dark complexion, and straight platinum blonde hair worn loose about the shoulders. She is short and athletic.

 **Crewman Apprentice Robert Mader** \- This attractive 18-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a deep dark complexion, and fine blonde hair in a flat top. He is a little short and chubby.

* * *

 **Medical**

 **Lieutenant Rachel Jimenez** \- This glamorous 26-year-old woman has dark brown eyes, an olive complexion, and straight golden-blonde hair in a short ponytail. She is short and heavyset.

 **Petty Officer First Class Stanley Nunez** \- This retiring 44-year-old man has gray eyes, a pasty complexion, and fine dark brown hair in a flat top. He is short and quite attractive.

Navigation

 **Chief Petty Officer Bradley Reid** \- This masculine but narcissistic 26-year-old man has dark brown eyes, an olive complexion, and straight black hair cut short. He is tall and angular.

 **Petty Officer First Class Philip Hess** \- This articulate but stupid 26-year-old man has green eyes, a rosy complexion, and thick platinum blonde hair left uncut. He is short and very good looking.

* * *

 **Operations**

 **Lieutenant Commander Benedict Pfeiffer** \- This imaginative and emotional 33-year-old man has brown eyes, a deep dark complexion, and straight dark brown hair in a military regular cut. He is short and quite attractive.

 **Petty Officer First Class Sharon Craze** \- This subtle but desperate 28-year-old woman has brown eyes, a dark olive complexion, and wavy auburn hair cut short. She is tall and somewhat unattractive.

 **Petty Officer First Class Erin Cisco** \- This self-reliant but extravagant 25-year-old woman has gray eyes, a dark complexion, and fine light brown hair worn loose about the shoulders. She is tall and quite muscular.

 **Petty Officer Second Class Eva Rubinson** \- This enthusiastic and guileless but fiery 24-year-old woman has hazel eyes, a rosy complexion, and thick red hair worn loose about the shoulders. She is a little tall and attractive. Petty Officer 2nd Class Rubinson previously served aboard the CSF _Sunderland_ (AVB-47).

 **Crewman Lori Michel** \- This sensitive but steely 19-year-old woman has blue eyes, a freckled complexion, and straight red hair worn short. She is tall and of average weight.

* * *

 **Public Affairs**

 **Lieutenant Commander Dori Anderson** \- This upright and mellow but impatient 32-year-old woman has blue eyes, a radiant complexion, and thick jet black hair in a long ponytail. She is tall and attractive.

* * *

 **Reactor Management**

 **Lieutenant Joseph Zukof** \- This educated but sanctimonious 40-year-old man has gray eyes, a freckled complexion, and wavy dull blonde hair in a military standard cut. He is very short and chubby.

 **Lieutenant Debra Mauldin** \- This predictable 43-year-old woman has green eyes, a flawless complexion, and thick red hair in a short ponytail. She is a little less than average height and lean.

 **Lieutenant Thomas Shirkey** \- This kind and modern but dishonest 49-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a tanned complexion, and curly dark brown hair cut short. He is a little less than average height and a bit pudgy. Lieutenant Shirkey previously served aboard the CSF _Coral Snake_ (AH-12).

 **Lieutenant Amanda Tavano** \- This stylish 42-year-old woman has green eyes, a radiant complexion, and curly platinum blonde hair in a mid-length braid. She is a little short and quite thin.

 **Specialist Willard Roth** \- This witty and sarcastic but destructive 21-year-old man has gray eyes, a dark complexion, and wavy blonde hair in a crew cut. He is a little less than average height and skinny.

* * *

 **Safety**

 **Chief Petty Officer James Castro** \- This impressive 28-year-old man has brown eyes, a deep dark complexion, and fine platinum blonde hair in a crew cut. He is short and quite athletic. Chief Petty Officer Castro previously served aboard the CSF _Royalist_ (PHM-107).

 **Crewman Alice Biller** \- This seraphic but bizarre 19-year-old woman has brown eyes, a dark olive complexion, and wavy auburn hair worn loose about the shoulders. She is short and shapely.

* * *

 **Supply**

 **Lieutenant William Trudeau** \- This decisive but argumentative 35-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a tanned complexion, and fine dull blonde hair in a butch cut. He is tall and fairly muscular.

 **Chief Petty Officer Maria Kovac** \- This admirable and paternalistic 29-year-old woman has blue eyes, a dark olive complexion, and wavy dark brown hair left uncut. She is very short and quite attractive. Chief Petty Officer Kovac previously served aboard the CSF _Woolwich_ (SSG/AGSS-127).

 **Petty Officer First Class Eugene Bailey** \- This contemplative but devious 24-year-old man has hazel eyes, an olive complexion, and wavy golden-blonde hair cut regular. He is a little less than average height and quite thin.

 **Petty Officer First Class Oscar Katz** \- This prudent and surprising 25-year-old man has green eyes, a tanned complexion, and straight platinum blonde hair left uncut. He is short and heavyset.

 **Petty Officer Second Class Jared Melendez** \- This gracious and restrained 24-year-old man has green eyes, a dark complexion, and curly dark brown hair cut short. He is a little less than average height and quite heavy.

 **Petty Officer Second Class Dorothy Farmer** \- This gallant and progressive but imitative 24-year-old woman has hazel eyes, a rosy complexion, and curly black hair neatly braided. She is a little less than average height and lean.

 **Crewman Billy Kelley** \- This colorful but haughty 17-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a dark olive complexion, and straight strawberry blonde hair cut short. He is of average height and quite heavy.

* * *

 **Training**

 **Lieutenant Commander Mary Mccurry** \- This youthful and stubborn but hedonistic 55-year-old woman has blue eyes, a dark olive complexion, and wavy black hair neatly braided. She is tall and curvaceous.

 **Chief Petty Officer Bernice Smith** \- This cerebral 27-year-old woman has hazel eyes, an olive complexion, and curly platinum blonde hair in a mid-length braid. She is very short and quite thin.

 **Chief Petty Officer Lisa Rudzik** \- This providential and irreverent 29-year-old woman has brown eyes, a fair complexion, and curly strawberry blonde hair neatly braided. She is tall and athletic.

 **Petty Officer Third Class Ivan Barnes** \- This dynamic and reserved 23-year-old man has dark brown eyes, a freckled complexion, and thick blonde hair left uncut. He is short and attractive.

* * *

 **Security**

 **Petty Officer First Class Phyllis Bertozzi** \- This perceptive but melancholic 27-year-old woman has gray eyes, a rosy complexion, and curly auburn hair in a mid-length ponytail. She is a little less than average height and quite athletic.

 **Petty Officer First Class Cyrus Aguirre** \- This skeptical 28-year-old man has hazel eyes, a flawless complexion, and wavy dark brown hair in a butch cut. He is a little short and a bit pudgy.

 **Petty Officer Second Class Marilyn Lockwood** \- This daring 23-year-old woman has gray eyes, a dark complexion, and curly dark brown hair worn long. She is a little less than average height and fit.

 **Specialist Marie Gould** \- This unchanging 21-year-old woman has dark brown eyes, a rosy complexion, and curly jet black hair worn loose about the shoulders. She is a little less than average height and heavyset.


	2. The Fall of Cera

_A/N: I study the military as a hobby. Sunrider authors did not. Shit bothered me. I'm fixing it piece by piece. Shit's slow work. I'm bad at this, bear with me._

* * *

"Lieutenant, how long until we arrive at the _Sunrider_?" Shields leaned forward, attempting to get a better look at his temporary pilot for the shuttle ride. Not a chance - the massive pilot's chair kept him out of sight, somehow. From the viewport, he looked out to his world, Cera, knowing it would be some time before he returned. "Not long sir, just a moment. Can't wait to meet your girl, eh sir?"

"I doubt she even remembers me Lieutenant, so, no." The pilot laughed at the Captain, then continued. "The Commander? I can't speak for that sir, but I mean the _Sunrider_. Here, give me a second, you should see her in the starboard viewport." True to his word, Shields saw stars move outside the viewport, eventually blocked by the mass of the _Sunrider_. "Would you look at that, the biggest damned thing to come out of Cera. Staffed by the best of the best from every part of the fleet. Rumor has it she stole the Fleet Admiral's Helmsman. Can't imagine how you got on it, Captain."

Shields smirked, the perfect opportunity for a bit of snark. "And what, exactly, does that mean lieutenant?" The pilot made some noises, trying to collect himself and _not_ insult a superior officer. "Uh, er, nothing sir, nothing at all." Mission accomplished, "Carry on, lieutenant."

"Yes sir. We'll be docking with the _Sunrider_ in a few minutes, don't forget anything here."

* * *

"STC, this is shuttle P3W-451, requesting docking clearance. Two Souls aboard, Captain Shields and Lieutenant Arceni."

" _Copy 451, redirect to docking bay 3. Oh, and Captain, welcome aboard."_

"Thanks STC, happy to be here." Shields laughed at the pilot - he's a good man. _"Not you Arceni, but close enough."_ A few moments later, the familiar sound of magnetic docking clamps resounded through the shuttle hold, and air hissed inside from the docking bay. Once it stopped, Shields stood and smoothed his uniform out. _Damn, leaned on the arm wrong, this'll look bad._ "Well sir, it's been a pleasure."

"Aren't you supposed to be stationed with us Lieutenant?" The pilot finally stood from his chair, the bulky shuttle pilot's suit making him look larger than he was. "Of course sir. But I doubt the captain will be hanging around with the shuttle crew very much." He was right, the duty of a captain didn't leave much free time. With little else, Shields stood in front of the shuttle door, took in a breath, and opened it.

"Captain on deck! Atten-shun!" A platoon's worth of heel cracks echoed through the hangar, representing the various heads of state aboard the _Sunrider_ , along with a generous number of the security force aboard. "Welcome aboard, Captain. Commander and Acting Captain Ava Crescentia reporting." A sharp, crisp salute, perfectly executed.

 _She hasn't changed a bit_ , Shields thought for a moment, then returned the salute. "Acting Captain Crescentia, you are relieved of Captain's Duty. At ease, Commander." We both dropped our arms, a second before the rest of the crew nearby dropped theirs. They proceeded to fall out, and return to their posts. Shields waited a moment before speaking to Ava. "Commander, I must admit it has been some time since we've seen each other. I believe it was...Graduation, High School. I never expected that one day I'd become your commanding officer."

"Neither did I, sir." Shields tried not to chuckle, and began walking in the direction the non-security crew had walked, Ava following. "I guess things have changed since then Commander. I never guess you would have ever called me 'sir'. Give me a report of the _Sunrider_ 's status."

Ava pivoted as she walked to avoid a crewman carrying a large set of Ryder parts, keeping out of his way. "We've been testing her systems for the past two weeks. At the moment, she's prepped and ready to go on your word, sir, with a few minor exceptions."

Shields sighed. "Exceptions, Commander? Not already." Always exceptions. Everything was running except for a few small things. "Yes sir. The _Sunrider_ is the newest ship in the fleet, armed like a warship and built like a carrier, fielding a full compliment of Ryders _and_ providing support for them as well. Currently, the Ryders assigned are being tested in squad combat near the edge of the System. At the moment, we'll be testing the _Sunrider_ itself and then rendezvous with them for our first assignment. Thankfully, both the Chief Engineering and Chief Medical Officer are on board and facilitating transfer of supplies."

Shields stopped at the start of an intersection, and rubbed his eyes with a hand. "So, let me get this straight. The Carrier part of our 'Assault Carrier' is completely nonfunctional." Ava nodded, completely unphased. "Yes sir."

"Excellent, just the way I like it." Shields stood up straight and continued walking, following directions to the bridge. Ava continued to explain on the way. "The biggest asset on this ship is her Vanguard Cannon. It's a dorsal mounted battleship cannon, with a few modifications, and works just as expected. In short, we can shoot a hole straight through a ship twice our size with ease."

"So when we fight, we'll fight like dogs. What if we're forced to retreat, Commander?" Shields took a right turn, leaving the path to the bridge and heading towards a nearby viewport. "We have one of the most efficient warp drives in the galaxy, Captain. Though it is untested, theoretically it can traverse the galaxy in a matter of days, sir." Shields let out a low whistle, before Ava entered his view and pointed towards the bridge. "It would be prudent to observe the bridge, Captain."

Shields nodded, and walked on board. Ava waited for him to be in the middle of the bridge before calling out. "Captain on the deck!" Instantly, those not working essential roles stood from their chairs and saluted. "At ease people. Back to your duties."

Ava led Shields to the central dais on the bridge, showing off the view it gave of the ship. "Captain, from here you can direct the ship's normal functions as you see fit." She keyed a few holomonitors laying on the edge of the dais. "With these, you can directly oversee the ship itself, and make remote decisions such as activating the Vanguard cannon or directing repair drones."

Shields opened his mouth - repair drones were not a common sight. "We've got repair drones, Ava? Really!?" Before she could answer, there was a single beat of silence. "Well, sir, no. Our Chief Engineering has already put in high priority requests for them, they should be arriving within a week." Shields shut his mouth and sighed again. "Damn, I've only seen a few in my career, I was hoping to see them in action here."

"As have I Captain. Now, let's head to the Officers Quarters, and more specifically, yours." Ava lead the Captain out of the bridge and towards a lift nearby. "Even though the ship is less than a kilometer long, moving between decks can get tedious, as we just experienced. There's a number of elevators scattered through the ship, such as this one, sir." Shields chuckled, waiting for the elevator to ascend. And waited a bit longer. And a tidbit longer.

"Commander, if I didn't know better I'd say this elevator was a cleverly disguised loading screen for some game." The Commander suppressed a giggle, expertly hiding it. "Of course not sir, this is as real as PACT's takings over of the Neutral Rim. You heard Rynar's surrendered to PACT already, right?" Shields gasped at the thought - another fallen world not too far from Cera. "Rynar, Minerva, Barona, the list goes on. At this rate, they'll have us completely encircled by the end of the month."

"Exactly, Captain. It is exactly why High Command wants us patrolling the system as soon as possible - to ward off PACT. Our orders are to begin shakedown cruise, retrieve our Ryder Platoon, then begin full defense of Ceran Space. Any hostiles are to be shot first and questioned later."

The Lift finally stopped and opened up to the view of an extravagant officer's room, two story room complete with king sized bed and office section. There was a sitting room in the middle of the lower floor, with a fully outfitted captain's office desk in front of the door. "Spared no expense, it would appear. I feel as if I'm in a Cera City Loft, this is beyond anything I imagined." Shields began exploring his new quarters, toying with the holomonitors at his desk.

Ava sighed. "Please don't mess up your room too much Captain, it will be important to running the ship. From here, you can dictate and access personal logs, enact certain ship overrides, directly communicate with Chiefs and outside personnel. The crew will also have access to this floor, and have been instructed to wait outside if they need to speak with your Captain."

Shields turned to Ava, cocking his head to the side. "Anyone can waltz in here? Do I at least get a security detail nearby?" Ava shook her head, trying to correct the flaw in Shields' thought. "No sir, but close. Crewmen are permitted on the deck, however only you, myself, the Chief of Engineering and Medical Officer have direct access to your room, sir. I will consult the Security Operations staff to have a guard posted, sir. Now, we must return to the bridge to begin undocking procedure."

Shields nodded and followed Ava back into the lift, waiting quietly as it descended to the lower deck. Before long, it opened and the pair moved into the bridge. This time, there wasn't a halt of operations to acknowledge the captain, only a single nod from the security officer at the door. "Captain, you'll be able to address the crew from up top. Just use the correct system and you'll be good to go." Shields made his way to the dais, Ava in tow, and keyed the system to make a ship-wide announcement.

* * *

"Engage Savior testing simulation, rotation set 35."

"Aye L-Com, beginning simulations. Savior, rotation set three-five." Sterling sent out direct commands to the Cannon section's computer, attaching relevant information to the personnel there. "Simulations reading green. All seems clear, Lieutenant Commander."

"Understood Petty Officer. Sent report to-" Before Thompson could finish his statement, the PA blared to life. "All hands, this is your Captain Speaking."

"We have received our orders. The _Sunrider_ is to immediately undock local port, execute shakedown cruise, then begin defense patrol around Cera. We are to enter orange alert as soon as we clear port. All stations, prepare for possible hostiles. I know we haven't begun tests, but be ready - PACT is nearby and we know it. Wake the lady up, let's move."

Sterling had a strong urge to clap, but decided against it when Trinity and Savior systems began their own tests for the shakedown. _So it begins_ , he thought, _the real stuff_.

* * *

Rivera was proud to be a part of the fleet. He was planning for this day his entire life, or at least most of it. He was ready to prove himself to his superior. To Arcadius.

"Captain, we're two minutes out." Mitchum took some time to figure out, but they had a dynamic that worked on the bridge nonetheless. "Thank you Mitchum." Rivera switched the PA on. "Crew, this is Rivera. Prepare all systems, and be ready. We're exiting warp soon, and we must present the best we can. Rivera out."

Minutes later, the _Mavourneen_ exited warp travel in the Ceran System. A fair fleet was gathered there now, exactly the same as any other Neutral Rim planet. Well, mostly the same, considering their latest fleet addition. "Sir, we've been pinged twice. Command says we are a go."

"Excellent, Mitchum. Let's begin."

"Copy that. All hands, battle stations. Missile teams, activate loading systems, arm pods A through E and launch in three. Two. One."

* * *

Shields turned off the PA and began issuing direct commands to the officers on the bridge. "Engineering, give us 10 percent, we don't want to overtax the engines just yet. Weapons, begin live fire tests, as I understand High Command has placed several buoys between us and the moon. Communications, patch me into Cera High Command - they'll want to hear we're operational. Last time someone started a ship they almost got blasted."

Ava chimed in the moment she figured the Captain had finished. "Sir, if you're referring to the _Prometheus_ incident, I would like to point out that it was because terrorists _were_ onboard."

"Yes Commander, but my point stands. Engineering is reporting reactor is within acceptable parameters. Navigation has plotted a course around the moo-" So close to punctuating her sentence, a series of explosion echoing through the bridge. Shields, holding himself against the railing, was almost unaffected. Ava was...not so lucky. "Crew, status!"

Engineering was the first to report. "Engineering - Reactor core stable, no explosions detected on any deck sir!"

"Navigation, no collisions in course, nothing on scan - hold. Captain! Confirmed PACT signatures within vicinity! Confirmed, we have presence of expended fuel in space. Missile Boats detected, approximately 100,000 clicks out sir!"

"Sound full alert, cancel engine test. Engineering, give us all you've got, we've got to escape the docks or we'll be trapped here." Shields was ready for something like this, it's always something like this. "Ava, what's out weapons status?"

"Vanguard cannon is incapable of use here Captain. Flak Turrets and Saviors are fully functional, and we had loaded a pair of Hell Darts before the ambush. Wait. Captain surely you're not thinking of taking the _Sunrider_ into battle already? We haven't even had a live test of the engines ye-"

"Commander, we've just had a live testing of the scanners, armor, and observation equipment. I'm sure High Command won't mind if we test our engines as well." Shields snapped back at Ava. A tense moment subsided once he whispered to himself, studying the map being generated on the holomonitor before him. "Once more, unto the breach, dear friends."

"Aye Captain, issuing orders to weapons. They're reporting full functionality of listed systems. We're ready on your order."

Another series of explosions rippled throughout the shit, another volley from a missile boat. "Commander, target that Cutter, take it down."

"Captain, another volley of missiles headed our way. Impact predicted against the dry dock itself, not us. Explosions in three...two...one." Instead of the echoing of explosions and shuddering of the ship, there was a single, massive lurch. "Captain, the dry dock has been destroyed. Debris has begun impacting us...Observation deck has been destroyed. We're counting several wounded already."

"Commander, coordinate the repair efforts at once, I'll handle the battle. Weapons, load the Trinity Capacitors and prepare a Savior firing solution. Navigation, get us out of this dry dock, get that missile boat in range of our cannon."

The ship continued from the dry dock, barely escaping a column threatening to remove the entire observation deck in one fell swoop. Whoever was at Navigation called first. "Firing solution accepted, maneuvering through the debris field being made by the battle. Estimated time until effective firing, one minute." Someone else at Weapons piped up at that point. "Saviors are aimed and ready to fire, Trinity capacitors are at 60 percent."

Shields called out to the bridge while he examined the field. "Weapons, fire Saviors rounds at that boat, try to scare them off if we're lucky." The triple thud of the ship indicated a single battery of Savior cannons firing. There was a heavy silence as those miniature rounds flew through space, rapidly approaching the missile frigate. "Impact in...3...2...1," Weapons sounded off. "No joy on the hit, I repeat, no joy. Trinity Capacitors storing 100 percent, ready to fire."

"Permission to fire, Weapons. Make sure they hit this time." Before he finished his order, Lieutenant Commander Mcclain fired off the port side Trinity lasers. Because of how they had been installed on the _Sunrider_ , her Trinity Lasers were incapable of firing a full volley at any one target unless it was right on top of them or in front of them. Thus, only half of them were aimed towards the little boat. Mcclain whispered to himself as they fired, "I wish we could bend this damn things."

A split second later, a confirmation of hit flashed on the scanners in front of Chief Petty Officer Reid's station. "Good hit, good hit! Trinity lasers have damaged the PACT frigate - she's venting atmosphere based on this calculations. Possible loss of her starboard missile silos as well Captain. We got her good!" A cheer sounded through the bridge, and even through the Combat Systems.

Shields looked to Ava for a moment, got a smirk, and looked right back to the bridge. "Alright people, that's our first hit, but it's nothing to report home about. Yet. Weapons, recharge Trinities and arm a Hell Dart Missile. We'll see if they're doing a solo dance." The crew returned to their duties - Navigation maximizing the number of guns trained on the missile boat while minimizing the _Sunrider_ 's profile towards it, Weapons keying out commands to Combat Systems, Operations managing the mapping of the rest of the battle occurring around them. Engineering making sure nothing was being broken.

"Hell Dart ready to fire, Trinities are recharged 20 percent, Captain." Shields checked the more accurate scans that were coming in - the engines were damaged on that boat as well. "Weapons, she appears to be dead in the water. Take her down...again." No confirmation sounded out, save for the additional contact of a Hell Dart on the scanner. "Contacts, additional missiles being fired by the PACT ship. Calculating course…" A second passed before Operations sounded. "Only four contacts, at a reduced speed to us."

"Captain, should we activate defense systems?" The _Sunrider_ contained powerful anti-missile batteries, both in the form of counter missiles as well as classic small cannon. The cannon made good for fighting Ryders if need be in some ships, but others reported them next to useless. "When in range of the smaller batteries, activate. Let's not let them know everything about us, just yet."

Seconds later, the Dart connected with the PACT ship, hitting almost next to the bridge itself. The last thing Rivera ever saw was a missile warning and the scared face of a crewman he never knew.

"Good hit, good effect on target! We did it sir, we took 'em down!" The bridge erupted in cheers as if they'd taken down something huge in PACT itself, and those cheers only intensified when Shields started the PA. "This is Captain Shields. Congratulations crew, we've taken down a PACT vessel on our first go. This is not the end, we will continue to engage PACT." Immediately after the PA cut off, Shields began issuing orders. "Engineering, Maintenance, assess damage and begin repairs immediately. Weapons, ready another Hell Dart and reload Saviors. Navigation, get us to the nearest PACT vessel, I believe we're still needed."

Once the ship was under way, Shields turned towards Ava and smiled. "An ambush by missile frigate and we barely got scratched. Not bad for her first battle, wouldn't you say?" Ava crossed her arms and smiled back. "You did well Captain. Let's get back to the clean up operation, by the looks of it."

"Excellent idea Commander, let's get to i-" Interrupted again, Operations called out. "Sir, additional contacts on the scanner! At least squadron of PACT heavy ships and...and...mother of god." Shields raised a brow at the man, quickly queuing the scanner system onto his Holomonitor, while Ava did the same. Once they were up, the senior staff had the same reaction.

"Ava, this has to be wrong. Operations, check the scanners, PACT doesn't have anything this big. Not even the Alliance, either!"

"Negative Captain, I already checked - that's what it's supposed to be. Bringing outer cameras online now." The bridge's main, massive holomonitor flashed on, showing the picture of a massive PACT vessel in space, surrounded by cruisers and a pair of Battleships. Someone pulled their headset and stood to look at the monster, the massive red dreadnought filling the screen with ease. Operations spoke up again. "Uh, sir, that thing is over three kilometers long. It's the _Legion_ \- PACT's Flagship. The personal ship of Veniczar of Arcadius."

Whoever was on weapons swore and Shields held the railing to tight his knuckles were turning white. "This is...not good."

* * *

Arcadius stood on the bridge of the Legion, hands behind his back as his fleet warped in Ceran space. "My friends, we have arrived. Begin the assault." The squadrons not assigned to his ship swarmed forward to combat the Ceran ships, overwhelming some and being outdone by others.

"Sir, the Cerans have a heavy cruiser in their fleet, it's taken down a Missile Frigate and is moving towards another pair. Shall we send someone to intervene?" Arcadius smiled behind his mask, knowing that it was playing its role perfectly in his plan. "No, let it continue. It will be awed by our Power. Charge the forward cannon, aim for The Cerans, show them our might. Then destroy their city."

* * *

Almost immediately after the _Legion_ warped into system, it fired two salvos from its lasers, and its cannon. Immediately Ceran ships were hit, the _Legion_ 's aim almost perfect. Ryders launched from her bays and swarmed over the smaller corvettes and frigates. On the bridge of the _Sunrider_ , all sat in awe of the monster that stood before them, trying to figure out what exactly to do. "The _Fearless_ is crippled, we're detecting lifepods escaping her." Operations took in a breath before following. "The _Gallant_ and _Bohemian Maiden_ have...have exploded, sir. No lifepods, no distress signals. There's severe damage to the entire Ceran Fleet, sir."

"Sir, we have hull breaches in the lower decks, portside Trinities are not operational," declared Engineering, now scrambling damage control teams. "Oh shit, Captain, I'm detecting massive buildups of energy in the _Legion_!" Petty Officer Pfeiffer on Operations tried to keep a straight demeanour but failed horribly.

"Captain, High Command has issued a general retreat from the system! The Prime Minister is broadcasting an unconditional surrender to PACT forces! Your orders sir?" Shields, busy studying the map, did not respond. "Captain, we need your orders!"

Weapons called out immediately after, standing and looking between Operations and Shields. "Pfeiffer, goddamnit can't you see, we're fucked! Captain, we need to surrender!" Ava stood beside Shields and attempted to begin ordering them before someone else happened on the Holomonitor.

The Legion fired. In their time arguing and not giving orders, the Legion had powered up and fired a massive energy blast directly at Cera. Directly at Cera City. Crescentia looked in bewilderment before speaking. "Op...Operations, status update."

"Uh, right, yeah. It, uh, appears PACT...destroyed Cera City. It's still going…oh god, it boiled away part of the atmosphere…What are we going to do?" Ava opened her mouth to give an order, just as Shields raised a hand. "Bastards. Get us the hell out of here, get us to the nearest safe harbor. Contact any other Ceran ships, tell them to follow us."

Cera burned. Cera burned as they turned, Cera burned as the Warp Drive spooled up, and Cera burned as the _Sunrider_ ran away. Alone. Shields took a last look at his home, knowing it was completely gone. But it wouldn't be the last time he'd be near Cera, it would not.


	3. The Sisters Merc

"It's been a week since the Fall of Cera. despite our best efforts, we have not been able to regroup with any of the Cera Space Forces. The Crew is beginning to fear that we may be the only one to escape alive, and to be honest, I'm beginning to believe the same. I don't know what we're going to do or what our next step is - all I know is that we're going to be alone for some time." The noise of his quarters' bell sounded, and he cut the recording short, calling out to whomever was there. "Come in."

Crescentia stepped through the doors as they opened, her heels making a rhythmic _click-clack_ sound before standing in front of Shields. She saluted him, waiting for a return salute for a moment. "Ava, any news of the fleet?"

"Nothing, Captain. The crew's beginning to get worried - if PACT finds us, we're sitting ducks, not to mention we'll have no one to back us up." Shields sighed and put his head in his hands for a moment before responded. "This was not how I envisioned my Captaincy of the _Sunrider_. Have we heard anything about Cera, aside from PACT control?"

Ava shrugged. "Aside from the government falling almost a week ago, no, nothing. Whatever is left of the Ceran Space Forces have either gone rogue, been added to PACT, or just gave up completely. On the bright side, the repairs to the Observation Deck are almost complete."

"On that note, what's the status of the _Sunrider_ , Commander? And how are you holding up?"

"I'm fine sir, there's no reason to worry about me. As for the _Sunrider_ , well, she'd had at least one better day. We're without missiles or our Vanguard, and that's not even the worst. We have none of our Ryders, nor our Chief Engineer and Doctor. On a more final note, running this ship is going to cost us, and I've been looking into ways to raise some money. The Galactic powers post bounties on any and everyone - I collected the ones against PACT and sent them to you, might do well to look over, Captain."

Kayto stood from his desk and walked downstairs towards the window. Without the Observation Deck, his meager view would have to do. "Ava, tell me something. What is a ship without a flag?" Crescentia seemed confused at the statement. "Sir? A...a pirate ship, sir."

"Exactly, which is why we're still flying the Ceran Flag. No matter what we do, Commander, we must remember what we're fighting for out here." Ava crossed her arms, and made some kind of noncommittal sound. "Sir, what are you planning?"

"Commander, PACT cannot get away with what they've done. We're going to fight them back. We're going to find allies, Ava. We're not the only Neutral World to be taken over, or at all. We'll find others, build a fleet. And retake every planet they've wrongfully taken. Each and every last one of them." A small, momentarily smile crept onto Ava's face for a single moment. "I take it you've got a plan, Captain?"

"I'm not the kid you remember anymore, Ava, not after all of this. We can't let ourselves be defeated so easily. If PACT pushes us, I say we push right back. The _Sunrider_ 's got a lot of fight left in here yet."

Ava actually started smiling to Shields' back. "Alright Captain, we fight. But I do have to say something."

"Oh, and that would be?"

"You haven't changed a bit, Captain."

The pair returned to the bridge, walking atop the dais where a third was waiting. "Ah, Commander, who is this?" The blonde haired man jumped at the sound of people nearby. When he saw it was the Captain that was before him, he snapped to attention, sending a few papers scrambling across the platform. "Captain, sir! Petty Officer First Class Harker, sir!"

"At ease, Harker. What're you doing up here, son?" Crescentia chimed in, instead of Harker. "Oh, sir, we never got the chance to introduce you. This is Petty Officer Harker, he is your administrative aid. While I support your interactions with the crew, as well as managing the ship while you don't, Harker ensures we all work smoothly during it." Harker nodded, and started grabbing papers from the floor, Crescentia helping while Shields stood at the railing once more.

"Navigation, set course for Tydaria. Engineering, get us half of whatever power you can. Operations, begin scanning at max range, watch for PACT and hostile forces. Weapons, get a salvo ready on the Saviors, just in case." The bridge crew made a mad dash to their assigned positions and began issuing separate orders, gearing up for a warp jump.

* * *

"All hands, this is the Commander speaking. We will be arriving in Tydarian space momentarily. Assume jump stations and prepare for possible hostiles." Three seconds later, the _Sunrider_ appeared a few hundred AU from the mining colony of Tydaria. Shields began issuing orders while Ava funneled data to his holomonitors. "Operations, open a commlink to the Tydarians, inform them of our approach and neutral intentions. They just be miners, but I bet we can at least get supplies and some more repairs done."

As Pfeiffer was keying the message in, the scanner blinked on. "Sir, unknown contacts. They're not anywhere in our flag registries. Sir, I think they're pirates." Shields cursed under his breath, pulling a map onto a holomonitor. Harker scurried into the back of the dais, while Ava moved to a spot behind the Captain. "Red Alert, raise shields, power up the Trinities. Aim Saviors at them."

Mcclain responded to the commands almost instantly, while Pfeiffer called out. "Captain, we're receiving a message from the pirate forces." The holographic image of a young girl, not over 15, appeared in the communication field of the Bridge. "This is the _Havoc_! Lower your shields and surrender your cargo!"

Shields shook his head. "Negative, this is an armed warship of the Cera Space Forces. Stand down, or we will fire on you." The girl took a second to realize what Shields' said, getting a wide eyed view. "Ceran, huh? Your ship will make a lovely addition to my fleet!" She maniacally laughed, as much as a 15 year old could, as her holograph dissolved. "Sir, we're detecting five distinct signatures. The so called _Havoc_ is a Bomber-class Ryder. She's leading two Fighter-class Ryders. There are two nearby Frigates that appear aligned with the Pirates, estimated time of arrival is ten minutes."

"Let's blow them out of the sky. Charge Trinities, ready a Savior volley, and aim for the _Havoc_. If we're lucky we'll decapitate their leadership with less than two shots. Fire when ready, Mcclain." A split second later, a trio of shots rang out from the front of the _Sunrider_ as her 137cm Saviors fired towards the advancing pirates. The Ryders managed to dodge each of the three shots with relative ease, taking no damage whatsoever. Another two volleys produced the same result, all the while they crept closer and closer to the _Sunrider_.

"Captain, they're too fast for our Saviors. Trinities are charged, permission to fire?"

"Fire Forward Trinities, Mcclain." Instantly the forward Trinities fired off to the Pirates, successfully striking a fighter and damaging the bomber. "We have hits sir. One Ryder destroyed, another damaged. Forward Trinities need approximately 30 seconds to fire again, midsection Trinities are ready to fire." Shields nodded, and once more blue-white laser sailed through the void at the speed of light, striking the Pirates once more. Mcclain attempted to begin a report but was cut off by Pfeiffer.

"Captain, we're reading a mass of additional contacts coming from the Ryders. Missiles sir, headed straight for us!"

"Mcclain, engage flak. Crescentia, inform Damage Control, prepare for incoming. Let Medical know to be ready for possible casualties." A few tense moments went by before the massed fire of the _Sunrider_ 's flak cannons opened up to counter the incoming explosives. Before long, damage reports came to the Bridge, indicating their flak wasn't as great as they believed. Shields, still eying the map and issuing individual commands, called out. "Damage report, Commander!"

"Venting air in at least four sections Captain, but we'll pull through. The _Sunrider_ 's giving it all she's got Captain." The pirate girl appeared again, but this time it seemed that the _Sunrider_ wasn't invited. "Now's our chance, take out their engines! We'll board and tear the crew limb from limb!"

"I didn't realize little girls knew that kind of stuff." Cosette stopped completely, pupils constricting and looking directly at Shields. "Did you...just call me… LITTLE?" She was yelling by this point. "Kill them all, but leave the Captain for me!" Shields smirked, realizing the spot he'd hit. "Now, young lady, don't get short with me." Cosette's hologram faded out of existence, and her Ryder accelerated directly for the _Sunrider_. Crescentia sighed and held a hand on her forehead. "Captain, please, do not antagonize hostiles."

"Captain, Trinities are still recharging, and Saviors are reloading. It'll take about 20 seconds to get either ready to fire, sir. Orders?" Shields looked down onto the map, trying to devise a way to avoid another missile barrage when something else popped up. The comm rose to life with the sound of a drum heavy musical piece. "Damnit, someone cut that off! Those Pirates are trying to distract us," Shields ordered, a beat before Pfeiffer could comment. "Sir, that's not coming from the Pirates. We've got an additional Ryder headed straight for the Pirates, ETA 10 seconds. Should we target?"

 _Ten seconds to come and fight us? No, that doesn't make sense_ Shields thought, and then smirked. What else would be defending a mining colony but a Ryder. "Mark it as Friendly, Pfeiffer, and train guns on those Pirates. Open a comm channel with them." A moment went by before Pfeiffer gave the go ahead.

"Unidentified vessel, this is the _Sunrider_. Request identification." The music died down, and the image of another equally young girl showed up. "I'm the Cavalry, the hero of the day! Don't you guys worry, the _Black Jack_ will take these guys down no probl… Oh you've pretty much done that yourself. Hmmf." She cut out, and continued her approach against the Pirates.

"Captain, she's a mercenary registered with the United Mining Guild - probably just local security. Might as well let her do her job." Shields nodded to Ava, then turned the comm back on - no holo. "Pilot of the _Black Jack_ , you are free to render assistance. We have you tagged as friendly."

"Captain, Trinities charged, forward and midsection. Permission to take them down?" Shields nodded, and soon after the Trinities fired for the last time that day.

"Pilot of the _Black Jack_ , thank you for the assistance. You have permission to dock in our bay. Be advised, any hostile maneuvers will be countered with swift military power."

* * *

A half hour later, Shields, escorted by a half dozen security troops, marched down the docking bay where the _Black Jack_ temporarily resided. Her pilot, identified as Asaga Oakrun, was viewing her ship over without realizing she had company. "Ms. Oakrun, thank you for your assistance in defeating those pirates. I'm sure we'll be seeing that girl again." Asaga turned and smiled, nodding. "She shows up now and then, but it's not big deal. Things sure seemed hairy out there, hope your things are alright. I didn't believe they'd taken on a military ship."

A pair of the security patrol marched to her, offering their hands. "You're going to have to be searched for weapons, pilot. Standard protocol." She offered no resistance, considering she was wearing a pilot's uniform where carrying hidden weapons was nearly impossible. A minute later, the guards returned to Kayto's sides "So, Oakrun, what exactly were you doing out there alone? I can't imagine the UMG would hire just one guard."

"Oh, nothing, just keeping the space ways safe! Coming to the rescue wherever the weak are oppressed! The Hero of the Innocent, the Vanguard of Justice! For love, freedom, and maybe just a bit of money on the side, it's Asaga of the _Black Jack_!" Someone across the bay clapped for a few moments before being silenced. "Okay, so, now the real version, if you please."

"Oh, uh. I'm Asaga, a freelancer, sorta. The space around here is pretty dangerous, so the Mining Guild's been paying me to fight the pirates around here - but it's easier said than done. At least I have my good friend Chigara to help out!" Shields raised a brow at that last statement, intrigued. "Chigara? An engineer?"

"A damn good one at that, too! She can and has fixed anything that needed to be fixed, and makes a damn good pastry too. Too bad the UMG doesn't buy those, or we'd be rolling in money." Kayto took the moment to change the subject to Asaga's employment. "A woman named Sophita is my contact with them, she tells me where to go and when I get paid, so that's all I really care for. If you're looking for work, she might be able to help - I hear the UMG is getting a bit heated about PACT.

"As for those pirates, they're led by that little one you saw - Cosette Cosmos, as she calls herself. I heard a rumor that she killed her own pa with a knife for not buying her candy. And there's another that her ship is filled with her pet rats. Worst is her ship though - found some Lost Technology a while ago, now her ship is loaded with Anti-Matter Missiles. Better watch out for those, they'll destroy anything that matters!" Asaga started cackling like a mad woman at her pun, and a few of the security guards joined her with light chuckling.

"We'll keep that in mind, thank you. For now, we'll deliver you back to your station, make some repairs, and then head to the next place we're needed." Asaga cocked her head to the side before both eyebrows raised. "Wait, considering you guys are going to be fighting PACT, maybe we can team up and do it together? Help me take care of these pirates and I'll join you guys no problem."

The lead guard next to Shields leaned in and whispered. "Sir, she's clean of weapons, and she did help us out. We could use a Ryder pilot." Shields nodded, thinking over the idea of letting a mercenary join the crew. Asaga started humming and tapping her feet when the Captain didn't return an instant answer. A near minute later, he came to his decision. "Asaga Oakrun, for the moment we cannot facilitate you. We will assist in the removal of the local pirate threat, and will revisit the issue afterwards.

"For now, you're free to go as you please, but we'd appreciate some assistance as well. We need to dock for repairs and supplies, can you get us in contact with that Sophita woman you mentioned?" Asaga shook her head and pointed towards her Ryder. "See how well that's kept? It's Chigara's work. She's in orbit over Tydaria, and loves to work on anything! I'll let her know we're coming!" With that, Asaga ran off to her Ryder, leaving Shields with his detail. "Well than gentlemen, keep a guard posted here, the rest of you are dismissed to standard patrol."

* * *

"This is the _Sunrider_ , requesting permission to dock for resupply and repairs. How copy?"

"Sunrider _, this is the_ Stardust Bakery _. You're welcome in the main docking bay. Sending approach information."_

"Understood _Stardust_. Estimated time to arrival, two minutes. _Sunrider_ out." A beat passed. "Weird name for a workshop, wouldn't you say Captain?" Shields nodded behind Pfeiffer, looking on his screen. "It is, Petty Officer, but as long as she'll fix our ship, it's alright in my book." Shields continued walking through the bridge, checking over the officers on station. He stopped at Weapons, realizing it wasn't Mcclain as normal. "Excuse me, officer, what is your name?"

The young man, a Petty Officer, turn in his chair and gave a rough salute. "Petty Officer First Class Jorge Sterling, sir. Mcclain is on rest, and Thompson had me replace him this detail, sir. It's an honor to serve here." Shields patted his shoulder, turning Sterling back to the display. "At ease, Sterling. Keep up the good work."

"Captain, the _Stardust_ is requesting we let an engineer aboard to survey damage." Shields nodded, and Pfeiffer relayed the information to the _Stardust_. Kayto turned towards Ava and saluted. "Commander Crescentia, you have the bridge once more. I will be with the engineer." After Ava returned the salute, Shields left the bridge and walked to the docking bay, grabbing a pair of security officers along the way. A shuttle from the _Stardust_ was touching down inside, and eventually shut down. Out from within came another small girl, topped with cropped blue hair, who was immediately ambushed by Asaga from some unknown hiding place.

"Chigara! I'm back!" Asaga let her final word extend on as she hugged Chigara, who seemed unphased by all of this. "Hello Asaga...who are these people?"

Asaga smiled and stepped back. "This here is Cap'n Kayto Shields of the _Sunrider_! They're from Cera!" Her smiled stuck for a second before Asaga realized what happened to Cera exactly. "Oh, er, they're from Free Cera."

"Oh, hello. I'm Chigara, Chigara Lynn - but only Asaga calls me that." She gave a small smile, then started looking around the docking bay of the _Sunrider_ , making mental notes of its condition. Shields followed along, with his two guards. "So, er, Chigara. This is an interesting place for a girl to have a workshop. Does the quote come with a backstory?"

"Oh, well, it's not that strange. This is one of the Mining Union's primary planets, and I rent the station from them. As long as I keep their ships repaired, they are more than supportive of my efforts. More or less."

"I meant more along the lines of you." Chigara didn't even look up from examining the _Black Jack_ when responding. "Me? Well, I guess you could call me one of those people like Asaga. A freelancer." _Something tells me there's more to this story than they're letting on_ , Shields thought _, they aren't exactly the spitting image of Freelancers._

Much later, Chigara approached Shields on the Bridge. "Captain Shields, I detailed repairs needed and sent them to your...er, Puhfaifer, I think his name was. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours if you accept." Down below, Pfeiffer sent the report from his station to Shields. "Sir, I ran the costs, the battle with the pirates will cover this easily. We're good to go, sir." With that, Chigara left to begin repairs, while Ava spoke to Shields.

"Captain, are you sure you want this civilian running around seeing the secret parts of our ship? What if she's working with PACT?" Kayto ran his fingers across the holomonitor, sending a file off to Crescentia. "Commander, see that? It's one of our three X12 Power Converters for the Vanguard Cannon. It shorted out when we entered warp for the first time, and there were only three in existence when that happened. Chigara fixed it, no cost, when she saw it. Even if she's working with PACT, she's at least fixing our ship for us beyond what we can hope for. Plus, I have a feeling she's not with PACT to begin with."

"Yes, Captain, of course. I can manage overseeing the repairs, sir, you can go ahead and get some rest, detail what's happened. I know you want to." Shields appeared to want to argue, before shutting his eyes and sighing, nodding his head. After that, he exited the Bridge and headed straight for his cabin. He spent some time looking out of his window, eying the repair bots that worked on his shit, before beginning his log.

"Begin Captain's Log. The Sunrider's being put in dock, and we should be out of it before the Ceran day is done. The engineer, Chigara, knows her work, and it doesn't hurt to have a platoon of repair drones with her. I wouldn't mind having her on my engineering staff either. I don't know about that Asaga girl though - Ava doesn't seem to trust her very much, but she's done beyond enough to help out already. I think they'd do fine here.

"I'm reminded of the story of how those two met, and I'll do my best to remember what Asaga was telling me while we were shadowing Chigara. Apparently, Chigara is a refugee from a planet destroyed, and was being attacked by some unsavory fellows when Asaga found her. Asaga started a fight she couldn't exactly finish, surprise surprise, and it was a weapon of Chigara that saved both of them. Ever since, they've been with each other. I bet there's more but I didn't want to pry.

"End Captain's Log." The computer recorded the message, and he spent a minute fixing transcription errors before standing and stretching. Once more he strolled to the window, looking out onto the many drones fixing his beautiful ship. They weren't normal drones, they looked individual, unique. And that horrified Shields.

"The rarest damned things we make...made...and she sketches more than we would have. We need to get her in Engineering, soon."

* * *

The next day, Shields gathered Asaga, Ava, and the bridge crew together on top of the dais. They scattered around a single table-based holomonitor, showing a 3D projection of the star system and its neighbors. "Now that we're all present, I'll begin. The pirates we fought off yesterday are staging in the asteroid belt nearby. Asaga here tells us that they've been plaguing this sector for some time, and their removal would see the United Mining Guild as properly aligned with us and resist PACT.

"The plan is as follows: The _Sunrider_ , accompanied by the _Black Jack_ , will warp just above the majority of the belt, and begin firing on the base. With the pirates distracted by our mighty guns, they won't notice Asaga slip in and planting some massive explosives. Once that's done, she'll return, we fire the bomb and, no more pirates. Any questions?"

Chigara pushed her way into the circle, wearing a blue variant of the standard pilot's uniform. "Uh, captain, where should I be?" Someone let giggled for a split second before Asaga flicked the back of their head, and spoke before Shields could deny her. "Chigara will be with me, mon Capitaine!"

"Chigara, do you even have a Ryder?" She looked around for a moment before typing onto the massive holomonitor, bringing up the screen of a bulky blue Ryder, a single laser cannon on one arm and a shield like device on the other. Two struts came off the shoulders, ending in orange circles. It almost looked like a lankier version of the _Black Jack_. "It's uh...the _Liberty_ , Captain."

Someone in the bridge crew whistled, and Chigara continued after that. "I made it after Asaga almost broke her Ryder...so when she need me, I can fly out and help. I figure I could be useful here, in the, uh, fight." Dead silence came over the group, as silent as it could be on a warship's bridge. Shields eventually broke the silence. "So, what exactly can it do?"

"It can shoot things with its laser...er, also, protect and repair other Ryders. Or disable enemy ships." With all the attention on her, essentially on a pedestal, she turned beet red. "Ah-actually, I think I'll leave it behind a-and work on the ship." With that, Chigara attempted to leave before, of all people, Ava spoke up. "Chigara, wait, no. We'll need you." Chigara turned back and looked at her, still blushing. "Wha-what?"

"We'll need you Chigara. I looked over the Captain's plan. If I may?" She directed that towards Shields, who nodded. "While valiant, the Captain's plan has a major flaw - we scanned the asteroid with a long range probe, and it is reinforced - nothing short of blowing up the _Sunrider_ right the surface will do major damage. Our best bet is to draw them out and crush their forces, them mop up the base itself. Asaga and Chigara will lead the _Sunrider_ into the battle, and will provide cover as we eradicate the Pirate fleet."

Asaga mulled the thought over, envisioning the plan, before beaming with happiness. "It's even better Commander! We'll do it!" All turned to Shields, waiting for his final approval, and knowing this, he took a few extra seconds than needed. He crossed his arms, looking over the plan displayed before him, leaning in for a moment before standing at attention and nodding. "It'll work, Commander Crescentia. Make it happen, we depart in three hours. Crew, Freelancers, dismissed!" With that, the bridge crew ran to their stations, issuing a multitude of orders to various departments along the ship, while Asaga ran off to the lift to get her Ryder ready. Chigara lingered for a bit, and Shields approached her.

"Chigara, I was looking over a few things you repaired, and they've down better than we expected. Is there anything you saw that you can, hmm… make better?" Chigara nodded, and pulled a small holopad from her side. _Interesting catch system, we don't have those_ Shields thought before she spoke. "There's a few things you could do now Captain, like increasing power flow to your laser batteries, or make the Saviors fire faster."

"Do that as quick as you can Chigara, and let Engineering know. Other than that, please get your Ryder ready." She smiled and ran off to the Engineering Department, mumbling something about power converters and polarities.

* * *

"All hands, this is the Captain. Prepare for warp in three...two...one...Warp!" The _Sunrider_ phased out of space and reappeared four hundred thousand kilometers from the Pirate Base, without being noticed. "General Stations, Red Alert, this is not a drill. All crew, prepare for battle."

The _Sunrider_ slowly maneuvered towards the Pirate Base, and the two Ryders she stored launched from the docking bay, piloted by the duo found not but a day ago. _"This is the_ Liberty _. I'm in position."_

"Black Jack _, ready to rock 'n' roll Cap'n!"_ Shields smiled to himself, knowing those pirates were in for a real surprise with those two. "This is the _Sunrider_ , we are in position. All weapons charged and ready to fire, on my mark. Three, two, one, fire!" Instantly, each of the Savior cannons fired towards the Pirates, accompanied by the blue-white Trinity Lasers. In the back were a pair of Hell-Dart missiles, streaking straight for a pair of Pirate Frigates. Someone in the bridge yelled out at the solid thumping of the ship firing everything, "Shatter their skies!"

A moment later, a very angered pirate fleet was streaking for the _Sunrider_ , blissfully unaware of the two Ryders that were flying behind them by this point. A second volley from the _Sunrider_ sailed across the void, impacting directly with the pirates with even greater accuracy that before, scoring a multitude of hits against Ryders and ships alike. Some took cover behind asteroids while others were caught in fire and died like the rats that slept in Cosette's Ryder, curiously absent from this engagement.

"Weapons, focus fire on the closing Ryders, let them know not to get too close. Operations, get us a decent fleet size of the pirates. Navigation, keep us from hitting those asteroids, as much as I want us to." An echo of "Yes sir," resounded through the bridge, and yet another salvo thundered through the _Sunrider_. "Sir, Pirate fleet is at approximately 54 strength relative to start, and decreasing with each volley. We should have them within the hour."

"Perfect. Asaga, Chigara, it's your time. Hit them hard!"

"Yes cap'n!" The two friendly Ryders disengaged from their rock cover and flew directly for the Pirate lines with… "Chigara, you mind telling me why you're leading this charge? I thought Asaga volunteered for that one."

" _Uh, no Captain. Asaga told me to do it, because I can disable ships and all."_

"Well, Chigara, let us, uh, know next time. Proceed." Another volley sent out, then the duo hit the pirates. First, Chigara would swoop by protected by a shield, then would detonate a small-scape EMP to disable a single Ryder. Asaga would come by, blast it, and they're continue on to the next one. They did this while dodging fire from the _Sunrider_ , although her advanced targeting computer probably saved them more than blind luck.

By the end of the hour, the pirates had managed a few potshots at the _Sunrider_ , barely managing to scratch her armor before one of the three took them down. Once the main fleet had been crippled, the three ships met up outside the hangar of the Pirate Base. The _Liberty_ and _Black Jack_ docked with the _Sunrider_ , taking on some supplies and letting the two rest while the debriefing began.

"We've sent out a shuttle to dock with the Pirate Base, a full squad of security personnel will be on board. Their objective is simple - blow their power production facilities, make it back, and the mission is done. It'll take some time for those Pirates to make a new base like this one again." Shields leaned back, letting Ava take command of this debriefing. "We'll send a pair of specialists, Petty Officers Bertozzi and Aguirre, with a platoon of security troops. They'll secure the entrance, get our specialists to the power, get back here and blow the station up."

Two operatives nodded at the end of the table, each wearing the standard gear of Ceran EVA Troopers. The one of the right, Bertozzi, spoke up for them. "Don't worry Captain, we'll get rid of that pirate base no issue. Been doing these operations for a dozen years now, it'll be a walk in the park." Shields gave Bertozzi a single nod, then turned to Ava. "Make it so, Commander."

 _Always wanted to say that._


	4. Pirates

Three shuttles raced through the void, flanked by the _Black Jack_ and _Liberty_ towards the Pirate's base. Bertozzi pulled up her HUD to check each of three squad's medical information. Bertozzi was accompanied by a squad of Ceran Marines, while Aguirre and escort sat in the second. The third shuttle held a squad of heavy Ceran Soldiers, to secure the shuttles and keep an escape route open. The comm system blared to life as Shields spoke from the _Sunrider_. _"All squads, designation_ Blackbird _, this is_ Sunrider _Actual. Your primary objective is to destroy this damned Pirate Base, and preferably without casualties. The_ Sunrider _et al. will remain on station to provide support if needed. If you lose contact, reestablishing connection will become priority - I don't want any needless losses on this mission men._ Sunrider _Actual out."_

A short silence descended before Bertozzi spoke on the squad comm, trying to keep his voice as normal as possible. "Well, he seems nice enough."

" _Blackbird-Niner, this is Sunrider_. _We're still receiving you."_ A snicker echoed through the shuttle at the communications officer's quip. "Oh, uh, right, of course Sunrider. ETA to the base is three minutes. We'll check in on touch down."

" _Understood Blackbird-Niner, Sunrider out."_ An actual silence filled the comm system again, persisting until they were about to board the Pirate's base. "Alright fellas, this is your pilot speaking. Get ready for a hot drop. Please remember to turn your holopads off and put your food back where it came from. Have a good'n."

"Right then, thanks Arceni." Bertozzi switched to the total platoon comm system, while looking over the gear of the man to his right. "Platoon Comm, this is Blackbird-Niner. Check each your squadmates' EVA gear, make sure everything is working like it should. We'll be touching down in 30, so be ready to go. I want the normal combat drop, big guys up front little dudes in back. Blackbird Three, you're on guard detail." The sound of the shuttles' magnetic clamps joining them to the base gave a single thud through the shuttle before the quiet sound of inner atmosphere leaking out to equalize pressure between the environments filled the leaving air.

"On three, one, two, three!" On that final numeral, the Cerans spewed forth from their shuttles, the heavy squad sweeping their heavy weapons across the deck while the escort squads fanned outwards away from the shuttles. Once they were at a safe distance, the shuttles disconnected from the asteroid and flew away into the void. _"Good luck Blackbird, we'll be ready to pick you up when need be."_ Bertozzi gave a single click of acknowledgement before the combined platoon came together in the center of the impromptu landing bay.

"Chief, we've checked out the bay, looks like we're alone here." Aguirre pulled out a pair of small sphere devices, a black ring wrapping around the entire object. He hit a single red button on each, and they flew upwards, producing a long ring of blue lasers from the black ring. They extended to the end of the entire room, and soon the orbs began to revolve until the blue lines had gone across the entire docking bay. After that, they flew off in different directions, mapping out the entire base. Aguirre pulled out a holopad and flipped it on, projecting the map to the nearby trooper's visors. "Beginning scan… looks pretty haphazard, to say the least. Hmm, I'm not seeing many lines that could be power, but that might be because they planned it well."

"Not bloody likely Aguirre, now find that damn power core… wait hold on, what's that?" Aguirre offered the pad out for Bertozzi to look over, and he gladly took it from his junior. "That, right there. That mass." A massive pit in the asteroid, adorned with a series of bars and beams above it, with a variety of...something coming from it. Bertozzi clicked to the system comm, checking in with the Captain. "You know what, I have no idea what the fuck that is. Uh, Sunrider, are you getting this?"

" _Yes Blackbird Niner, we are. Might be best to detail a squad to check it out, give the other one the explosives. We'll be watching just in case."_

" _Don't you worry guys, the_ Black Jack _'ll get rid of any creepy monster you find!"_

"Copy that. Sunrider, Blackbird Niner and Blackbird One moving towards unknown mass, Blackbird Two and Three en route to power core, Blackbird Four on guard detail. Check reception status."

" _We read you five by five Blackbird Niner, you're good to go. Sunrider Out."_

Bertozzi switched back to the Platoon Comm, giving a number of hand commands to his troopers. Once done, she returned the holopad to the other specialist. "Aguirre, take the explosives and find the power core, make it broken. I'll take the Heavy Squad and figure out what the hell that...thing is." Aguirre nodded, taking his squad off deeper into the base, holopad in front of him to guide the group. Bertozzi did the same with his own holopad, taking a moment to sync with Aguirre's data.

As they descended into the station, they continued to report in with the _Sunrider_ for reception quality. Beyond the 100 meter mark, issues started to compile. "Sunrider, this is Blackbird Niner, how copy over?"

" _Blackbird Niner, this is Sunrider, reading you three by five. Advise you find a way to boost your signal, over."_

"Copy Sunrider, we'll try. Blackbird Niner out." She switched to platoon comm, and motioned for his new squad to fortify the intersection they were in. "Hey, Arceni, do me a favor. Land in the docking bay and route our comms through yours, alright? We're having some trouble here and shuttle comm might work better."

" _I think I got most of that Bertozzi, but we'll give it a try. Give me a minute to land again and we'll get this all sorted out."_

* * *

"Captain, the long range scanner is showing something approaching the asteroid field but I can't get a clear lock on it. It could be Mining Union reinforcements, or additional hostile contacts."

"Understood Petty Officer, keep me updated, and let Weapons know if they get in Savior range."

"Aye aye sir, initiating active tracking." Reid flipped a pair of switches and passed through several prompts on the screen to activate the aforementioned tracking system. Essentially, instead of generally scanning the nearby environs, the _Sunrider_ 's scanning system focused directly on specific targets and their immediate area of influence. It left the _Sunrider_ vulnerable if anything else arrived to attack, but when fighting a solo opponent then it would very difficult to lose a lock.

" _Check, check, Sunrider, this is Blackbird Niner, how copy? Arceni is providing communications relay, over."_

"Blackbird Niner, this is Sunrider, we read you five by five. Send traffic, over."

" _Sunrider, we've gotten approximately 100 meters into the base. No contacts. It's deserted, so far. Over."_

"Copy Blackbird Niner. Be advised, we've got additional contacts bearing down on our position, unidentified for the moment. Be ready to bug out. Sunrider Out."

* * *

" _Aguirre, you get all that? And have you found the power core? Over"_

Aguirre raised a balled fist and switched his radio over to respond. He prefered the physical on-the-shoulder form instead of the chin based one, knowing he didn't accidentally change the channel. "Yeah Bertozzi, I got all of that. We're about 20 meters outside what looks like the Power Core. We'll check in after breaching. Out." Aguirre threw his hand forward, ordering his team to continue onwards. Lockwood led the team now, rifle raised and sensor suite deployed. Before reaching the door, she raised a fist to stop the team.

"Petty Officer, the door is welded shut, at least most of it is. I don't know how we're going to get through this one." Aguirre raised an eyebrow at this statement, while the slightest shifts in the Explosives Team's suits gave away their inside joke. "Lockwood, can't we, uh, blow it open?"

That did it. Aguirre silently gave thanks that Bertozzi wasn't listening in or he'd never live it down. At least this might be the last time he works directly with the Explosives team. One of the troopers, his HUD told him was Gould, calmed down long enough to explain. "Yes, yes sir we can blow it. It's just a joke. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes." Aguirre gave a nod and motioned to Lockwood, then changed comm channel to the command line.

"Blackbird Niner, Sunrider, this is Blackbird 2-1. Be advised, we've reached a welded door, Blackbird 2-2 is moving to blow it. Possible secondary explosions to follow. Blackbird 2-1 out." A pair of clicks on the channel indicated that both receiving parties understood his message. Aguirre swapped back to Squad Comm, and back stepped to where the Explosives team was gathering - hopefully outside blast range too. Lockwood was running a wire back to them - _an actual goddamn wire?_ \- hooked to a detonator.

"Blasting in three." Several of the team steadied themselves against the walls nearby, both metal and rock. Aguirre thought he heard some static on the line. "Two." Aguirre was now very aware that he had nothing to brace against. "One."

" _Aguirre halt deto-"_ Static again.

* * *

" _Blackbird Niner, Sunrider, this is Blackbird 2-1. Be advised, we've reached a welded door, Blackbird 2-2 is moving to blow it. Possible secondary explosions to follow. Blackbird 2-1 out."_ Bertozzi clicked the comm unit in response, not needing to reply to Aguirre's message. She was more concerned with the large pit that had been found by the scanning drones. "We're almost there people, be ready for whatever the hell this is. Keep your head on a swivel." The team clicked in affirmation, not a step out of line. Before they could acquire sight on the pit, static burst on the comm system before being replaced by a communications operator's voice.

" _Blackbird Niner, Sunrider, do you have communication with Blackbird 2-1? Over."_

Bertozzi pinged Aguirre's comm system, getting an all-clear response. "Sunrider, Blackbird Niner, positive ping from Blackbird 2-1. Something the matter? Over."

" _We're getting some interference on his line, Blackbird Niner. Be advised, detectable power fluctuations coming from that area of the base. Recommend you get him out of there, Blackbird Niner."_

"Understood Sunrider, Blackbird Niner out." Bertozzi quickly switched to Aguirre's channel. "Aguirre, halt detonation!" As soon as she finished the command, the asteroid shook violently. Several of the squad flew off their feet as the rock and metal rumbled and mashed together. _"Blackbird Niner, report! We've got a massive explosion coming from Aguirre's position. Definite atmosphere venting. Shuttles en route, but it ain't good."_ Before Bertozzi could respond, another voice flared up on the comm channel. _"Blackbird Niner, this is Sunrider Actual. Continue to objective, it's too late now. Sunrider Actual Out."_

"Understood Sunrider Actual. Blackbird Niner out." She switched channels and raised a fist to stop her team. "Arceni, how's it looking on your end?" As she contacted the shuttle pilot, Bertozzi pulled up the medical conditions of Aguirre and his team - half of them dead in void, and the other half nearly there. Aguirre was one of the latter, but it was clear that without medical aid, he'd join the former. _"Bertozzi, it's fucked six ways to sunday down here. There's leaking atmo and we're trying to get the computers to calculate proper intercept courses with the bodies, but there's too much happening. Avoid this section of the base, if you're lucky the pirates have emergency bulkheads for this. Arceni out."_

Bertozzi switched back to Squad Comm. "Well, you heard him fellas, let's get back to work. Pit should be in view in ten seconds. Be ready, could be more rigged explosives." The squad pushes forward even slower, not wanting to take the chance at blowing out their side of the asteroid as well. Chatter from the _Sunrider_ and her Ryders picked up.

" _Asaga, please, be careful in the asteroid field."_

" _Chigara, there's Cerans that need our help, I'm going to help."_

" _Fine, if you want. Ar..Arceni? Where are we needed?"_

"Help us!"

 _Wait a second that's not on comms_. Bertozzi stopped, as did the rest of her team - they heard it as well. "Please gods save us!" Several of the squad members raised weapons towards the voices, and one of the commented. "Probably pirates Chief, didn't know how fucked they'd be. Let's blast 'em."

"Really? Pirates, in a pit? What is this, some shitty holoflick? I doubt it. Keep your weapons up but your safeties on, people. Let's find out who wants our help." They pushed forward as silently as ten men and women in heavy combat armor could. Eventually, they found the pit - a massive crater in the rock, with huge metal spikes rounding the edge. Towards one end, it was apparently there were bars at a certain level. The yelling was coming from within the pit, and it getting more and more likely that it wasn't pirates.

"Slaves." Bertozzi turned to one of the squaddies, a corporal, who was obviously shaking in his armor. "We found the fucking slaves. No wonder the map didn't know what this was. Look, their arms, they're swinging into the air. It's a goddamn pig stye." Bertozzi stepped towards the pit, trying to get a better view of the slaves, when she was spotted. A wave of silence came over the slaves, packed in the pen like animals. Bertozzi called out on Squad comm, 'accidentally' leaving her suit's PA on as well.

"Squad, move up, we need to get these people out of here, now!" Without missing a beat, the team maneuvered themselves around the massive cage, looking for some kind of release or opening to begin pulling the slaves out. Bertozzi, trying not to step on any fingers or hands outstretched from the cage, trotted across it towards the center. If she was a betting woman, she'd put money on there being a great big door in the center of the pit to drop slaves in. After a bit more careful meters, she was proven right. A large central grate in the cell was near the middle, hooked up to a rather large black box. "Squad, I've found the entrance, rally on me. Let's get these people out."

Her retinue carefully stepped across the bars towards Bertozzi, one man managing to trip on the way there. "Sunrider, Blackbird Niner. We've located the slaves, once the shuttles saved Aguirre's team, have them rendezvous with us in the docking bay. We'll be getting the slaves out in the mean time."

" _Understood Blackbird Niner, shuttles en route now."_ Bertozzi stopped herself from responding, understanding why the shuttles were coming immediately. She came to hearing the gate broken and pulled up, and the cheers of the slaves below. One by one, the squad pulled them out from the pit and walked them out to solid ground. Without anything to give them, there was little the squad could do to comfort them.

"One twenty, one twenty one, one twenty two." Someone from the squad was counting, on squad comm and to the Sunrider, the number of slaves they were coming out of the pit. A disturbing number of bodies remained inside, calling for someone to go in and retrieve them. When the final slave was pulled from the pit, the squad gave a short cheer, followed by the rest of the freed slaves. "Sunrider, Blackbird Niner. We've retrieved the slaves that are alive, we're going to need to make a few runs on the shuttles. Approximately one hundred, twenty two, I repeat, one two two slaves to transport."

" _Blackbird Niner, Sunrider Actual. Good job out there. We'll have quarantine prepped by the time you get back. You'll have to be screened. Sunrider Actual out."_ Someone in the squad groaned and Bertozzi didn't bother checking who it was. Instead, she stood atop the bars one last time, trying to see into the crowd that had gathered from their efforts. "Everyone, listen up! We're Ceran Space Marines, and we're going to get you out of here, but we're going to need your help! I want everyone to make sure they're helping whoever needs it out of here! Everyone is getting out of here!" Another set of cheers arose, dying out as the freed men and women started moving the wounded from the slave chamber towards the hangar, lead by one of the squad members.

As Bertozzi was stepping off the cage, she felt something hard hit her in the back of her suit. _Can't be rubble, it'd wouldn't hit like that. Someone throwing rocks inside the pit?_ Another pair of the somethings hit her suit, this time they were definitely harder. Some of the freed yelled, and that was enough for Bertozzi to quickly turn to see the cause, before realizing she was still standing on the cage. Her foot slipped inside, plunging her downwards and nearly breaking her other ankle. "Chief, hostiles!"

"I figured that! Squad, get the freedmen out of here! I'll cover!" She raised her rifle and started shooting towards her assailants. Because of the distance, she couldn't zero in on where they were, but simple suppressing fire was enough for her likings. Another pair of heavier weapons opened up behind her, as her squad covered the panicking freedmen exited the chamber. Fewer shots came from the other side, and her team's began to quiet as well. Bertozzi took this as her chance to get away from the cage, and tried pushing herself up to get her leg out - wouldn't budge. Her knee guard was firmly lodged against the bar, and it seemed that her full weight was the only reason it went down in the first place. She'd need help to get her leg out.

Bertozzi tried calling out for help, but even the squad comm was drowned out by renewed fire from the slavers. This time, it was worse - more guns opened up from their end, this time suppressing the Cerans. She tried to fire on the slavers herself, but the awkward angle she laid at was only causing her issues. The fire died down for a second, and Bertozzi shortly hoped that it was because the slavers were dead or driven off. Instead, the two squad mates that stood with her had stopped firing to get her out of the cage trap as quick as they could.

Without the rest of her squad, or any other Cerans to help them, it was becoming rapidly apparent to Bertozzi that there was little either of them could do before the slavers were on top of them. She looked upwards at the two, Barnes and Rudzik, watching them pull her by the shoulders as the fire resumed. Rudzik slapped Barnes, pointing him downrange to cover him while he tried to free Bertozzi. As soon as he raised the Ceran Heavy Assault weapon, the slavers punctured Barnes' suit in a half dozen places, and he fell to the deck. He kept pulling as Bertozzi aimed at the slavers and called on the comm. "Blackbird One, Blackbird Four, get out here ASAP! We lost Barnes and I'm fucking stuck!"

" _No can do Chief! The Slavers are hitting the hangar too! We can barely get the people onto the first wave of shuttles! You need to get to us, quick!"_

"Oh sod it! Sorry Chief!" That was Rudzik, aiming his rifle directly at her exposed knee. A shot rang out, followed by excruciating pain and a loud thud in the cage. But now she was free to be carried out by Rudzik, not bothering to pull her into a proper carry but just get her out of there. The rest of the Heavy squad was rushing back to the slave pit when they caught up with the two. Rudzik spun a raised fist above his head, then pointed towards the hangar, signalling the squad to cover him as they went back. The squad kept their weapons trained in the corridor leading to the pit, knowing that the slavers could appear at any point.

None of the former slaves questioned why Bertozzi was leaving on one of their shuttles, accompanied by a pair of medics, and none of the Heavy Squad had the time to retrieve Barnes' body. Instead, they held the line while Blackbird Four covered the other entrance to the hangar, and someone else ushered civilians into awaiting shuttles. Once the shuttles returned after the first wave, they had brought along extras.

* * *

"Captain, unidentified contacts are slowing. They know we're here."

Shields turned towards the holomonitors on the dais, adopting a stoic, determined look to keep calm. On screen, he saw where four pirate destroyers were coming into view - escorted by a dozen ryders. This time, they were without their leader, Cosette. Small gains, apparently.

If this new development frightened Shields, he showed no sign. Instead, he tapped a few keys on his Holoscreen before speaking. "Weapons, instruct Savior batteries to fire a volley at their destroyers, and have the Trinities train on their Ryders. Ops, retask our Ryder complement towards this new threat, and ping our EW suite to see what they can do." EW, Electronic Warfare, was a major part of modern combat. A vessel could be disabled without issue if it failed to protect its digital signature. Some ships were safe, without any wireless access across space, while others were unsecured. Mcclain issued commands through his terminal in silence, while Pfeiffer contacted the two mercenary Ryders that the _Sunrider_ picked up. " _Black Jack_ and _Liberty_ , reorient to the _Sunrider_ , we've got incoming hostiles and will need your support. Sending you coordinates now."

As if punctuating his statement, the Saviors launched their volley towards the pirates. Within two minutes, a pair of explosions blossomed from the first destroyer, and a single explosion appeared on the bow on the second one - impacting not on the ship but their active shields. "Six shots and three hits, Captain. Another volley will be ready in thirty seconds." Shields gave a single nod, trying to gauge how wounded half of their destroyers were. "Once they're loaded, fire sequentially. I don't want them to have a moment's rest during this fight."

"Aye sir, ordering sequential fire on the destroyers. Trinities are at 85 percent charge, they'll be ready and aimed by the time the Saviors are reloaded."

"Good. I want those Trinities firing before the Saviors, time them to hit the Ryders as the Saviors do." Another aye from Mcclain, as he sent out commands to the Weapons batteries, while Ops directed the Ryders towards the _Sunrider_ 's flanks. Crescentia was monitoring the battle map, coordinating with Pfeiffer and the computers to keep the battle map up to date. Seconds ticked by, as the Trinities banks loaded and the Saviors had shells slotted into position. By the time they'd finished, the Pirate fleet had spread out - save one of the destroyers that had been hit.

"Weapons, you have permission to fire volley."

"Aye sir, Saviors firing in three...two...one...Saviors have fired, Captain. Trinities firing in one and half minutes." The Trinity Lasers were imperceptible as they traveled through vacuum, firing from their turrets to various enemy Ryders within five milliseconds. Nearly half the hostile Ryders imploded, or worse, split cleanly and rocketed off into different directions as atmosphere and coolant vented into space. "Good hits all around commander - half of their Ryders are incapacitated or destroyed, and Saviors managed to knock out another destroyer without shields up, sir."

Happy that his crew was winning the battle, Shields let himself smile for not but a moment, then returned to normal. "Commander, give me a status update on their fleet. Asaga, Chigara, are you in position?" The mercenaries were first to respond, cutting Ava off almost immediately as she tried speaking. "We're ready to go, mon Capitaine! Let's kill these pirates!" Crescentia sighed, giving a moment of silence to ensure Asaga was finished, then spoke as well. "Enemy fleet at sixty percent operational status Captain. Three of the four destroyers are too heavily damaged to fight, and we've confirmed that six of their Ryders are out of commission as well. Their leader, Crescentia, managed to dodge the beam aimed at her, sadly. I suggest we prioritize her Bomber before finishing off the Destroyer and remaining Ryders, sir."

"Duly noted Commander. Weapons, get the Trinities charged as fast as possible, even if you have to sap power from the Savior systems. Weapons free."

"Understood sir, trinities charging, next volley in one minute. Saviors will be ready to fire in twice that time."

"Navigation, check their heading. We might be the invincible Sunrider but those Pirates can do some damage. Bring us about 330 bearing 315. I want as many of our guns facing them as possible." Another series of pinprick explosions appeared on the holoscreen as the Trinities fired off. "Captain, enemy Ryder strength at 25 percent. The rest have raised their shields, as has the Destroyer. Wait one." Pfeiffer tapped a few keys on his console, then pushed his display to the Captain's holoscreen. The icons representing individual pirates now had lines draw between them, and the pirate base.

"Captain, they're redirecting to their base. The people are in trouble." To punctuate his statement, both bow facing Saviors fired a volley towards the pirate fleet. Shields, however, didn't respond immediately. "Navigation, let's cross their T instead." Crescentia tensed up as soon as he said it.

Crossing the T was a classic naval maneuver, dating back to the days of wooden ships on seawater. It was the goal of any commander, really. If two fleets were engaging, a best case scenario would have one fleet presenting its broadside to the other. A few of the vertical fleet's guns could fire on the horizontal fleet's, while the latter could present a majority of their guns to fire on the former. If the Sunrider were to cross the Pirate's T, then it could double the number of heavy hitting Saviors and the near instant Trinities trained on the fleet.

"Sir, are you sure that's the best idea? It could end badly for us."

"It could end badly for those slaves if we don't, Commander. Let me remind you that some of the last free Cerans are in that rock as well, and we are not leaving without them. If an assault Carrier and her Ryder escort can't take on this rag-tag fleet, then we don't deserve to bear the name Cerans. We will cross their T. We will defend those shuttles, and we will get our men back! Navigation, put us right in front of those bastards. Weapons, get all Saviors ready to fire, as well as portside Trinities. Sap power from non-emergency sources if you have to. And Chigara, watch over those shuttles, make sure they get here."

Happy she wasn't forgotten, Chigara smiled in her Ryder. _"I understand Captain."_ Asaga, however, was not so happy. "Captain, what am I supposed to do now!? I want to kill these pirates, not play guard duty!"

The Sunrider shifted course, aiming between the Pirates and the base. Shields tried not to laugh at Asaga's comment, then spoke. "Asaga, you're not on guard duty, just stay on top of the Sunrider until we stop. Make sure nothing gets passed us." She seemed happy enough with that reply, taking the _Black Jack_ literally on top of Sunrider, resting on the Observation Deck. Ava let out an audible sigh, keeping track of the Ryder.

Seconds ticked by as the two opposing forces maneuvered in space, getting close enough that the Pirates began firing on the Sunrider. Their Destroyer lead the charge, firing her main gun at the Sunrider, followed by volleys of Lasers. Thankfully, the Pirates were more concerned with volume of fire rather than accuracy - the kinetic salvos missed completely, and only a select few lasers managed to hit. Crescentia was on top of it before Shields knew what was happening. "Captain, sections eight and nineteen are hit, venting oxygen now - looks like no one in there at the time." A duodecet of thumps echoed across the ship as each Savior Battery fired in series. Half a minute passed as they sped at the Pirates. One managed to hit a Ryder while a quartet made good impact on the Destroyer.

A pair of missiles flew one of the Ryders, while the other fired a battery of lasers at the Sunrider. The latter was unavoidable when aimed properly, but it wasn't - the Pirate firing blindly, trying in vain to hit something vital on the Sunrider. The port side flak turrets were tracking the missiles before they were in range, and rained fire invisible to the naked eye in their path. One of the projectiles blew up as flak took it down, but the other headed straight for one of the Savior batteries - scoring a clear hit on the beast.

"Captain, Savior battery two is non-operational! Enemy strength at 20 percent as well. Only a destroyer and three Ryders left, sir."

"Excellent Crescentia. Mcclain, focus all Saviors on the destroyer, and launch our remaining hell dart at that bomber of theirs while you're at it." The weapons officer didn't respond as he launched the missile towards the pirate, simultaneously keying in orders for the Saviors. A quarter of a minute ticked by as the Hell Dart raced through space, making contact with the Pirate Bomber and send a thousand pieces of it in every direction. A final wave of Trinities fired off, killing the two remaining Ryders.

Before the Saviors fired, however, a peppy Ryder pilot decided now was the best time to engage the destroyer herself. A barrage of missiles loosed from four points on her Ryder, while Lasers and Pulse fire streaked out to meet the Destroyer. The makeshift military vessel's shields couldn't handle that much combined, different firepower at once and promptly overloaded. Before their guns could track the _Black Jack_ , they were almost literally hacked off by the mercenary's melee weapons, rotated out from the former ranged arsenal. Bit by bit was sliced from the Destroyer, first the weapons, then engines, and finally, a cleaving straight through the center.

Shields admired her work, trying his best not to look it in front of the XO. The rest of the Officers were watching as well, one of them muttering after she killed the destroyer. "Fucking brutal, man…"

"What was that, crewman?"

"Uh, nothing sir!"

* * *

An hour later, the slaves were extracted from the asteroid, along with the remaining Ceran Marines. Chigara and Asaga spent even more time looking for the bodies of those that got vented. Luckily, two managed to keep suit integrity and made it out alive, if a little shaken up. The same could not be said for their officer, Bertozzi, who lost the lower half of her left leg during the chaos of the battle. Shields gave Ava command of the ship during that hour, while he personally went down to the med bay, both to help and comfort the people they'd brought back. Once they had time to breath, he spoke with the medical staff on board - a dozen overworked corpsman and a surgeon overseeing them - regarding the outcome of the people they'd retrieved. The Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Jimenez, approached him before he could speak to the other staff.

"Captain, I'll be blunt - we don't have the ability to really help these people. They need an actual hospital and a lot of intensive care. We can set the broken bones and ease their pain, but we can't help the malnutrition or the scurvy, or hell, let's not even start with the mental trauma basically of them have gone through. Half of the kids are non-responsive and I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing the Old people living a good final few years, if it's measured in years at all. Our best bet is getting them to the Mining Union for treatment, or if we're lucky, intercepting a Medical Relief Fleet somewhere."

Shields looked beyond the officer, looking at the nearly one hundred surviving former slaves as they fought to live with the help of the the _Sunrider's_ crew. Jimenez was right - the _Sunrider_ wasn't equipped to help these people, at least not all of them. He sucked in a quick breath and nodded to the her, and started to walk towards the exit of the Medical Bay. As he strode passed the wounded, he pulled his holopad and sent a message to Crescentia.

 _Medical Station. Now_.

* * *

Quick A/N: I'm a slow writer. This has been in production since... I wanna say August of 2014. I've had a beef about how LiS wrote Sunrider, but I was busy with having fun elsewhere. I'm hammering away, 500-1000 words a day. If I don't crap out (which will happen), new chapter should be up and ready within... A week or two?

Also LiS, you guys did pretty good with your VN, I just didn't like the writing is all. And no shading, that was a malice on the art.


	5. Ghostlike Counterstrike

_A/N: You're goddamn right it's a Sabaton quote! Also for the record: finding information on the engineering department of a naval ship is next to impossible. Damn engineering majors!_

* * *

Shields and Crescentia stood at the back end of the primary hangar of the _Sunrider_ as the refugees were escorted off their ship. Some were being carried in stretchers by Tydarian medical personnel, while others were able to walk under their own power, however a vast majority were hooked into mobile IV dispensers, leaning on them a bit too much more than should be comfortable. One of the Tydarians approached the officers, offering what Shields assumed was a salute. Shields returned a Ceran salute to the smaller man, and proffered a hand to shake afterwards. As he shook, the Tydarian spoke. "Captain, I am Lieutenant Commander Dupont, commandant of this Outpost. A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine Commander, I am Captain Shields of the Ceran Navy, and this is Commander Ava Crescentia, my XO. You have the thanks of both myself and the crew of the _Sunrider_ for taking these people to better facilities." A shuttle in the hangar started to rise and maneuvered into vacuum, headed straight for the outpost. Asaga, who had been assisting the transfer until that point, strolled towards the trio. "They've got most of the people now, Mon Capitaine. We did good work today!" And with a cheeky smile, she walked towards the next group of waiting survivors, aiming to support a frail looking man of nothing but skin and bone. Dupont stole a glance at the group before looking back at Shields. "Your subordinate speaks more than I would expect, but considering what you have accomplished today Captain, she's well within reason to do so."

Ava suppressed an exasperated sigh while Shields dismissed it with a hand wave. "She's simply a local who wanted to help, Commander, I assure you. Cerans are not so… liberal, if you will." Dupont smiled and nodded at the comment. "Obviously, your people are more concerned with the sword rather than the pen, as it appears. I came over to ensure all transport operations were well, and deliver a more personal message. I've been asking for a task force to attack that Pirate Base for some time, so, you have my personal thanks for what you've done here. If you've ever in the sector and need aid, we'll be happy to render it."

The prospect of a Tydarian, no matter how lowly, in his pocket was very enticing to the Captain. As he opened his mouth to speak, another shuttle entered the hangar, followed by Chigara's Ryder shortly afterwards from the opposite side. Though a Ryder can operate under its own power in vacuum, the artificial gravity of the _Sunrider_ forced them to be moved with the help of mechanical arms along the hangar. The _Liberty_ was slowly brought into one of the two dozen Ryder holders, and in that time another series of shuttles departed and arrived. Almost as a direct foil to Asaga, Chigara marched towards Shields with high precision, snapping off an admittedly sloppy salute when near. Shields returned the unnecessary salute, acting up for the Tydarian before him. "Report, Ashada."

"Captain, I've enacted the repairs as you've requested. Nothing that can't be fixed. I will have a full report ready by the end of the day."

"Understood, Pilot Ashada. Log any repairs you need for the _Liberty_ and _Black Jack_ to Chief Engineer Brown before your report. Dismissed." With that, she nodded and turned on her heel, walking back through the hangar towards the trio of engineers and dollies already preparing around her Ryder. Dupont was unabashedly staring as she left, before turning back to the officers. "Indeed, quite the crew you have Captain. With that, I must take my leave, and continue to conduct this operation from my chair in the Outpost. Again, thank you for your actions, Captain." Dupont nodded at Shields and walked towards the next refugees, apparently to aid them onto the transports. Ava chose that point to finally speak. "So, Kayto, you've now got a friend in the Mining Union Military. I suppose congratulations are in order."

"Of course they are Ava, with copious amounts of minerals and rocks and money. I'm just happy this managed to happen while we were both off duty. Speaking of which, who as the bridge?"

"That would be Petty Officer Harker, she's _my_ assistant. On that note, why is Chigara acting like she's in the Ceran Military? Did you make her swear the oath while I wasn't looking?"

"Take a walk with my Crescentia, I've got a bit of explaining to do." He turned and started to walk towards the nearest exit, giving a few comforting words to the refugees as he passed. Ava hurried caught up to him after a moment of disbelief. _Kayto, secrets? Not since school, I don't believe it._ Once they were passed the remaining dozen or so refugees, with a shut bulkhead behind them, he finally spoke. "Our two new friends, Asaga and Chigara, they're not Cerans. As much as I hate to admit it, we're going to need their help. We Cerans are strong but we couldn't stand alone before - I doubt we'll stand alone again."

Ava wanted to get to the specifics of her question, not the long explanation to come. At each intersection, Kayto was quick to check for others before he continued speaking. "So we need friends, allies, comrades. That Tydarian, Dupont, he's one. Asaga and Chigara, they're more. But we can't just have allies though, it's simple. Just having them won't get us to where we want to be. So we need to mold them, we need them to be closer to what will work. I haven't asked Chigara to take the oath, though I'm pretty sure Commander Brown is going to ask her to swear an Engineer's oath in the future, I've asked her to be opposite to Asaga - at least in front of others, bring that idea of a combined force forward. Which is where we are now. Outside the bridge."

Ava blinked, and realized that in his short speech, she had lost herself and followed him straight to the bridge. "Now, Ava, let's get back to business." She smiled and nodded, keying the opening of the door and walking in behind Shields. On the raised dais, Petty Officer Harker looked beyond stressed. With the arrival of the two highest ranked officers on the _Sunrider_ , she stood ramrod straight and yelled out. "Captain on the deck!" As one, the Cerans jumped to attention from their chairs, interrupting their current work to observe the standard customs. Shields, followed by Crescentia, slowly walked towards Harker, and both saluted. "You are relieved, Mrs. Harker. Crew, as you were." The younger woman dropped the salute once Shields had, and quickly scurried to Ava to deliver a usual report that Shields wasn't privy to. He paid no attention - anything important she said, Ava would say to him. A few seconds and a pair of data transfers later, Ava was behind the Captain again. "Nothing unusual to report Captain. Shuttle transfer going as well as it can, and the _Black Jack_ has been repainted to cover any scuffs. The _Sunrider_ is currently lacking a few of her Trinity banks, and sections eight and nineteen are holding atmosphere. I've forwarded a full report to your holopad for further reading."

Shields quickly checked his pad to ensure it was sent over, then spoke up. "Pfeiffer, once all refugees and Mining Union personnel are off the _Sunrider_ , inform them we are leaving. Helm, engines ahead half, take us into void space once they're off." An alert flashed on one of the holomonitors online on the dais, and Pfeiffer immediately called out. "Captain, we've got a high priority message from a Mining Union officer direct to you. Shall I put them through?"

Shields made a quick motion to smooth out his uniform, and Ava quickly stepped back to avoid being placed in the communications field. "Go ahead Pfeiffer." The hologram of a tall blonde woman appeared before Shields, wearing a blue suit and white shirt beneath. She pushed a pair of glasses to the bridge of her nose and spoke. "Captain, I'm Sophita Brooks, Vice Secretary of Operations for the Mining Union. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

Shields gave a small nod in her direction as she introduced herself, acting slower and more deliberate for the communications system. "Vice Secretary Brooks, while it is good to be introduced I feel I must ask how you managed what amounts to a high priority phone call to a Ceran military vessel." Ava recoiled at that - Kayto wasn't that standoff-ish, but after what he said, it was entirely possible he was acting. Whether Brooks truly cared for the slight was not shown. "One of our customers, an Asaga Oakrun, sent me a message with the needed details. She told me that you wished to speak with us. It was opportune, we were meaning to find a method of contact once a local commander informed us of your actions. I hope we have not insulted you with our actions."

He shook his head, happy he lacked the former long hair that once sprouted from his head. "Of course not, I was simply searching for an answer. Now that that is out of the way, might I inquire to the purpose of this call? I doubt it was solely for congratulations on blowing up some pirates."

"Of course not Captain, the Mining Union would like to offer you a deal. Several parties have expressed need for services we cannot provide ourselves. You, however, are able. We are willing to pay for your services, as rendered before. Along with that, we are willing to open some of our major stocks for purchase to you and your crew. I understand the _Sunrider_ fires the AGM-484 Hell Dart, no? We have a number in our inventory that you may be interested in. Along with Proton Torpedos, tactical nuclear devices, the usual items." Brooks was more hesitant on the latter ones, Cerans were not known for their usage of nuclear weapons, and could possibly insult Shields. Thankfully, it didn't. "Excellent, Ms. Brooks. I'll put you in contact with our Public Affairs Officer for requisition orders. Do send the contracts as well, we would be happy to look them over."

Brooks smiled, another successful deal. "Thank you Captain, we hope your business is good. Oh, and if you happen to stumble across more… historic items in the future, let me know. We would be more than happy to handle them. Brooks out." With that, the Hologram disappeared, and Ava finally spoke up. "Contracts, sir? Have we signed a deal that we'll regret?"

"Of course not Ava. I specifically kept from accepting any of her deals for that reason." What went without saying was the prospect of having the aid of the Mining Union behind the Sunrider, not just a small outpost's commander. Pfeiffer spoke up once Kayto had finished. "Captain, Commander, the Mining Union's rep has sent the requested information, I've forwarded it to your holopads as well."

Shields didn't bother to check his, while Ava chose to read over the contracts that Brooks had forwarded. After a short period of silence on the bridge, one of the holomonitors flashed on and the image of Commander Dupont appeared. Whether it was because his station didn't have a hologram producer or he simply didn't want to waste time with it barely crossed Shields' mind as the man spoke. "Captain, we've received the last of the refugees, and medical ships are being dispatched as we speak. We've also delivered some supplies onboard your ship as well, your Commander Anderson has told me she sent a full report to you. I hope they are to your likings. Once more, thank you Captain, for your actions. Dupont out." With that, the holomonitor flashed to black, waiting for input from any of the stations below.

Were he in a room without inertia dampeners, Shields might've felt the _Sunrider_ 's mighty engines come to life and push her out into void space. Thankfully, he was in the heavily armored bridge, where only the heaviest of ordinances would produce a slight rumble. The _Sunrider_ moving wasn't something that could be felt on the bridge, but his local holomonitors gave enough information tell him it was. The officer on the Helm, Craze, called out. "Captain, engines answering ahead half. We'll be at acceptable distance for FTL in ten minutes."

Ava tapped Kayto's shoulder and offered her holopad. "Captain, I've read through the reports from the Mining Union… They've opened an account for us, we're free to withdraw our payments from there. It appears the Slavers had quite the bounty on their heads to begin with." She scrolled downwards towards the bank statement, and the several zeros that trailed the balance line. "Excellent Ava, we've now got a backup fund in case our engineers are incapable of rendering repairs. How do the contracts look, for that matter?"

"There are several assassination and escort requests, mercenary work. There is one important contract I think we should take, Commander."

"Is it moving cargo? Because I'm sure that's exactly what we should do with the free Ryder space in the hangar."

"No Captain, this one." She tapped a few keys and a rather formal looking communique appeared. "Finally, my power of super fast reading has proved itself!" He chuckled and took the holopad, reading through it. His smile faded as he read, eventually turning to a small frown. When he returned the pad, he grabbed his own and read through the same message. "You're right. Get our pilots to the CIC, I'll meet you there."

* * *

"Mr. Vizcaino, how are our the primary relays holding?"

"All holding well, sir. There's an increase of usage of Relay Zero-Four and Zero-Five, I've pinged diagnostic functions already."

"Excellent. Mr. Okoro, how are the weapon diagnostics going?"

"Several issues in rotation detected sir, we're currently at 86 percent nominal strength."

Solecki growled, running a Communications Spire was thankless work, no resources that the bigger stations received. Having nearly an eighth of their protection gone was just another issue, and that wasn't even considering the fact that the normal fleet protecting his Spire was gone fighting. "Ensure Engineering is informed and have a repair crew out there by the end of the rotation."

"Yes Captain, they have already been informed." Vizcaino turned from his chair, and raised a hand. Nothing but a kid, thought Solecki, still asking the teacher to go to the bathroom. "Captain, the relays are experiencing heavier load. Are there any major operations we were not informed of?"

"Sit down Mr. Vizcaino, and no, I have not been informed of major operations now. Run Diagnostics and find out what's causing this so called is-"

Another of the bridge crew, Aksoy, called out. "Captain! Ship's signature detected! We've got an unknown vessel warping in system! They're close to the star, our sensor suite is having trouble locking on!"

Vizcaino called out next. "Basic diagnostics mark this ship as the origin of the heavy load on the Relays Captain!" He slammed a fist down on his command chair, and started keying his own instructions to the crew of Station Delta. "Vizcaino, cut them out of our system now Okoro, get whatever weapon arrays you can pointed at those bastards. And someone inform our defenders of the incoming hostiles!"

Delta shook and rumbled almost immediately afterwards, and Solecki cursed, knowing his station was under fire already. "Defenders are failing to… Oh god." Ahead of the hardened glass window of the Bridge, the gutted cruiser _Podargus_ slowly sailed through the void, propelled by venting atmosphere. The hostile ship was impossible to see at this distance, but a window appeared on the glass, aimed at a tiny point in space. It had the picture of a sleek vessel, flanked by a pair of Ryders, two enormous turrets on the top of her superstructure and innumerable smaller ones along the sloped sides. Each and every one of them was pointed directly at Station Delta. Solecki stole a quick glance at the sides of his station, where four of his six turrets were visible, each aimed at the ship. They fired in unison, launching projectiles smaller than his hand at the hostile, defiant to the obvious death to come. Instead of killing them quickly, it discharged a large amount of energy from its side turrets, and Delta's guns, along with her habitation ring, disappeared completely.

This was where his legacy ended. An disgraced Captain doing what he believed in, not even to serve PACT but to serve his home planet. Any chance of defection was gone now, any chance of peace and quiet was long gone. He took in a breath, his last, and waited. He didn't even realize which were his last moments of life, one second he was waiting and another, gone.

* * *

"Chigara, this is Shields. Good work with the Electronic Warfare upgrades. I don't think they realized we were here until we blew up half their garrison."

" _T-thanks Captain…"_

Asaga popped up on one of the many holomonitors next to Shields, a smile and thumb up like usual. _"We got 'em good mon Capitaine, I don't think there's a single PACT Lackey out there!"_

Ava was the next to offer congratulations, trying her best not to look too impressed. "Indeed Captain, the destruction of a PACT Spire with no casualties at all. I'm hesitant to place all the credit on Chigara's upgrades… but they did help."

"You're right Ava, it wasn't Chigara that single handedly won us this battle. It was PACT's incompetence." He had quietly turned on the PA system when he started to speak. "They didn't even have shields online when we entered the system, and one of their most valuable stations was guarded by a single cruiser and a pair of Frigates. It wasn't even a fair fight. But more importantly, we dealt them a massive blow with this. If estimates are right, and I'm inclined to believe they are, their communications in this sector of neutral space depended entirely on that Spire, right there. And now, they'll be in Chaos." He switched off the PA. "Helm, get us into void space ASAP. There's no reason to stick around."

As the _Sunrider_ pulled back into the space between stars, Ava pulled Shields back from the front of the dais, speaking quietly to him. "Sir, didn't that feel too easy? The informant told us there would be a small garrison, but they were easily overwhelmed by one ship. Not to mention, we haven't had a chance to enact proper repairs across the ship, some places are being held together with what amounts to a fraction better than patchwork..."

"I know, Ms. Crescentia, I know. It's not a good sign that they left it so undefended, even for PACT standards, there's something else happening. No matter what, we'll pull into Chigara's dock after a few days, then get everything repaired and rearmed."

"But that's not going to sol-" Ava was interrupted when one of the officers, Pfeiffer, called out. "Captain, the Ryders have docked. The pilots are requesting your presence in the Hangar."

Shields looked towards Pfeiffer, then quickly back to Crescentia. "We'll finish this conversation once I speak with the pilots. You have the bridge." He turned and walked off the dais, strolling off the bridge and off to the Hangar. Ava watched him leave, taking in a deep breath and letting out and equally sized sigh, before taking over the bridge, involving little more than upkeep and the occasional order.

* * *

In the Hangar, Chigara and Asaga were standing beside each other, the looming figures of the _Liberty_ and _Black Jack_ slotted in behind them. The former was more concerned about the techs that were working on both mechs, and the latter was more concerned with the discussion they had earlier. Across the Hangar, a bulkhead slowly opened to reveal Kayto Shields, their leader. When Asaga first saw him walk, she was confused until she asked Chigara. "He walks funny because of how the Cerans keep gravity on their Ships, Asaga," she explained, "The way their artificial gravity means they don't walk completely normal." Seeing him walk towards the two made this very clear - he walked with a long stride, his legs bending more than normal, giving him the appearance of a child trying to tip-toe their way to a cookie jar. When he arrived, Asaga gave him an almost insult salute, and laughed.

"We did it Kayto, we destroyed that Spire without even gettin' scratched!"

"Indeed we did Asaga. My bridge crew told me you two had something that needed to be said, mind if we cut to the chase with that?" Asaga nodded and Chigara hid a small smile, not looking directly at the man. "Well, remember when I said we'd join if we dealt with those pirates? Consider this our joining." She pulled Chigara close and stood straighter. "If you're going to war with PACT, then sign us up! Asaga Oakrun and Chigara Ashada at your service!"

"Good to hear it you two, even if you were already part of the _Sunrider_ in all but name. I'll have someone from Maintenance get you a room set up, I doubt sleeping in your Ryders is comfortable." Chigara shrugged, but Asaga made sure she gave yet another performance, putting a hand on her back and acting in agony. "Oh Captain, you have no idea how bad it gets sleeping in there every night!" Shields pulled out his holopad, issuing an order for a crewman to escort the two to the sleeping quarters when Chigara tugged on his sleeve. Asaga politely

"Uh, Captain, I'm not sure where I fit in though… I'm not really a good pilot but I'm not really allowed to... to work in the engineering department…"

"Nonsense Chigara, Commander Brown has told me nothing but positive things that you've done for the _Sunrider_. The fact that he hasn't called for your removal means to me, you're fitting in fine with them."

"I just meant that… I just didn't feel like I belonged there."

"Chigara, you're the best Engineer this ship has scene since Cera, and you've personally kept us from harm's way with minor modifications to our ship. You belong there, here, on this ship." Chigara looked away for a moment, thinking, before looking back and smiling. "You're right Captain." With that, she returned to Asaga who was ready for a round of celebration over the last victory. Shields politely declined, heading back to the Bridge instead to return to normal duties. Once he returned, he took his customary station on the dais, in front of several holomonitors, Ava behind it at a similar number. He quickly tapped a few controls, pinging Chief Engineer Brown down in the Engineering Department. His dirty face appeared on screen, a towel quickly coming up and wiping away some grime.

"Mr. Brown, I hope I didn't catch you a bad time."

"Of course not sir, just finishing up some maintenance work is all. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to know how that Chigara is around the Engineering crew. She expressed some disbelief that she would be welcome…" Brown shook his head and pulled back a bit in shock. "Not welcome, sir? You sure she said that? Let me tell you something real quick, I ain't seen anyone work with a reactor the way she does. I think yesterday she comes by, sits down, and just hand machines a bulkhead seal detector, without even measuring the broken one. She just knew how to build another one. And that's not counting all the work she's done to improve the reactor or even our sensor suite. I'm positive half of that battle was all Chigara's doing. At least. Anyone making her feel not welcome is gonna' get a spanner upside the…" He realized the tangent he'd gone down. "...The head, Sir. Only after the most thorough trial, obviously."

Shields bowed his head towards the engineer. "Of course, Commander, of course. Carry on." The exchanged formalities and the call ended. Hopefully, that was another problem solved before it got too large.


	6. Hearts of Gilded Iron

_A/N: Yeah another Sabaton Quote. Deal with it._

* * *

"Captain's Log: it's been approximately three weeks since our attack on the PACT Outpost, shortly after destroying the slaver's base and freeing those people. Since then, the _Sunrider_ has gone into dock for a full series of repairs, with the aid of our new apprentice engineer Chigara. After ensuring all systems were nominal, we ventured off, enacting hit and run attacks on PACT convoys. Thanks to Chigara's upgrades, we can jam their communications moments after entering system with almost impeccable precision. Rumor has it PACT soldiers are telling tales of a ghostly white ship in the void, destroying all ships they encounter." Shields smirked and tried not to laugh on record.

"After some consideration with Commander Crescentia, I've decided to keep this profile alive. Though it means that claiming those kills as ours might be hard, it will strike fear into PACT soldiers. Once we get a moment's down time, I'll have Chigara's drones do a full painting across the _Sunrider_ to make this rumor even more 'true'. Perhaps we'll leave more evidence of our trail, but that's irrelevant now. Even with our ghostly attacks, PACT invasions of neutral planets continue. Already we've seen two planets burned to cinders like Cera, without any fight. He sighed, trying to find a best way to continue. "Keeping this information from the crew is becoming hard. If they find out Cera wasn't the only burned planet, they'll lose the unity we have now - that we were the biggest neutral threat to PACT. I'll have to speak with Commander Crescentia regarding this issue in the future."

The door ping sounded, indicating someone requesting access to his room. "Pause transcription. Enter!" Ava stepped into the officer's quarters, a look of worry on her face. "Sir, there's a high priority, encrypted transmission for you."

"Ava, you can personally tell Ms. Brooks we are not her lackeys, even if we take contracts, alright? You don't need my permission to do so."

"It's not Ms. Brooks, Captain. It's Admiral Harold Grey of the Solar Alliance. He's requesting an audience with you at your convenience." Shields tried to hide the shock in his face and failed horribly. "A-Admiral Grey? Solar Alliance? You confirmed the transmission key, right?"

"I checked it, Brown checked it, even Pfeiffer checked it sir. Admiral Grey wants to speak to you. I suggest not letting him wait any longer." Shields nodded, standing to smooth his uniform and ensure his recently cut hair appeared natural. "Commander, give me a quick run down on the Admiral, will you? I don't want to go in blind." Crescentia smiled at his care for appearance, thinking of how serious he had become since their schooldays. "Of course sir. Admiral Harold Grey is from the Grey Lineage, famous for their unification actions many centuries ago. He's widely respected for his strength as a strategist and his sensor of honor. He's Fleet Admiral of the Emerald Fleet, Solar's biggest and best. He catapulted to public fame after the Battle of Lorn VIII." After some shuffling, he nodded. "Ready when you are, Commander."

The holographic image of an aged man appeared before Shields, waist and up. His white and green coat was a near foil to the Ceran black and gold, not to mention the copious medal and campaign ribbons that adorned his left breast. Were this man a lower rank, Shields would have berated him for the beard he wore, but considering he was, at least informally, second only to the President of the Alliance, Shields knew it was not in his best interests to even comment on it.

"Admiral Grey, I presume you know I am Captain Kayto Shields of the CSF _Sunrider_. I've with me my first officer, Commander Crescentia. it's a pleasure to be speaking with you."

"The pleasure is mine Captain Shields, let me start by expressing my sorrow for the loss of your home." Grey bowed his head and shut his eyes for a moment, appearing sincere. "I truly am sorry for what happened that day. I hope you and your crew are well."

"As well as portless naval personnel can be, Admiral. Now, might I ask why exactly you've contacted us? Certainly a single carrier is less important than other threats the Alliance is facing." The elder smiled. "Quite the contrary, the _Sunrider_ is very important, or, it can be. Tell me, Captain, have you heard the rumors of the…" Grey pauses for a moment, reaching for a nearby holopad, reading it to make sure he's correct. "Ghost Ships that are floating around near Cera? Supposedly, a PACT fleet failed to report to duty, and now they're hunting down convoys without being hit with any damage." Shields raised a hand and coughed, hiding a smile. Ava's lips twitched for a second, imperceptible to the holographic capture device. "Of course we have Admiral, we've been avoiding their hunting grounds as well. I doubt there's any bad blood between us, but I'd rather not risk it."

"So the fact that almost always after they appear, a contract with the Mining Union has disappeared under your ship's title?" Shields let his smile show and nodded. "You've caught us, Admiral, we're best friends with them."

"Shields, I'm not exactly in a joking mood at the moment. I know you and yours have been taking on PACT ships out in neutral territory and helping the Mining Union at the same time. I'm contacting you for the same reason. The Alliance asks for aid."

"Aid, sir? As I said, we're a single carrier. If I might be bold, I'm going to guess why you want us." Grey raised his arms and crossed them on his chest, nodding. "Take your best shot, Captain."

"You need us to do your dirty work in the neutral zone, your had a speech prepared about a 'common enemy' and some 'mutual benefits' to be gained. Perhaps free docking in Alliance territory? All in exchange for our being your renegades in the neutral territories. How close was I?"

"Nearly there Captain, I will admit. No, you won't be offered free docking, nor will there be major mutual benefits. I'm asking you to escort diplomats off a neutral planet, Versta, so it can get back to Alliance Territory. There's a PACT invasion fleet incoming, and the locals believe we're the cause. We'll pay double Mining Union contract price for their retrieval. You're the only ship close enough to get to them before PACT does that the locals won't fire on. Even a full planet won't risk the wrath of the Ghost Ship"

Shields paused for a moment, trying to imagine the gravity of what was being offered. "Diplomats in trouble?"

"Yes."

"Neutral territory about to be invaded by PACT?"

"That's the short of it."

"We're the only ones that can help?"

"You're our only hope. Save those diplomats or the Solar Alliance will be forced into a war."

Shields looked towards his executive officer, then back to the Admiral. "Forward any additional information to my XO. We'll grab them before PACT can." The Admiral winked out of existence, and Shields finally sat back in his chair. "Ava, if you please send me a copy of whatever the Admiral sends. You are dismissed." She saluted and walked out of her commander's quarters. Shields was not done with orders yet, as he brought up the communications channel. "Captain Shields to Commander Brown. I want you to finish up all maintenance and check with Chigara for anything out of the ordinary. Prep the Ryders for combat as well, we're going in for a big one." A pause to let the message be sent. "Captain Shields to Lieutenant Jimenez, prep the medical bay for possible injuries, we're about to rescue diplomats." Once more. "Petty Officer Aguirre, all security personnel are to get geared up and ready for possible combat immediately."

"Resume Captain's log. We've been tasked by the Alliance to rescue diplomats from PACT. Things are heating up. End log." Shields finally stood and stretched, letting his back pop a few times before making his way out of his quarters. The guard that was usually posted had left, Aguirre having called _everyone_ for possible action. Good on him, Shields thought.

He arrived on the Bridge some time later, taking his position with Ava behind him. "Weapons, arm Saviors and charge Trinities, I want us ready for PACT if they're there. Inform Chigara and Asaga to begin undocking procedure immediately, and to disengage once we're in system. Pfeiffer, ready the EW suite, attune for PACT profile. Helm, ready warp for Versta." A chorus of ayes sounded on the bridge, as massive cannon shells loaded into place and the first of two Ryders dismounted their docking slot and angled in front of the hangar door. Minutes later, Mcclain called out. "All weapons armed and ready sir, we've locked capacitors from the system - they'll be hot when we enter Verstan space."

"Excellent. Helm, get us to Versta."

* * *

"Entering Verstan space now sir. Sensors showing six PACT contacts closest to us - two cruisers and a quartet of Ryder escorts. Markings have them as Eighth Invasion Fleet."

"Have they pinged us yet?"

"Negative Captain."

"Then send out the Ghosts, Pfeiffer." Without a major Ryder force or escorts, the _Sunrider_ was forced to adapt and find new methods of attack. Thanks to Chigara's upgrades, infiltrating the PACT Battlenet and sending fake signals was almost too easy. "Captain, PACT sensors are showing a quartet of PACT cruisers and a full squadron of Ryders accompanying us. They won't be dog fighting, but they're believable for a reactionary force. We're in their network, I've found their laser control station. Shall I down it?"

"Aye, Mr. Pfeiffer. They won't miss them." Immediately Shields saw the PACT reaction - their Ryders rallied and went straight for the nearest ghost Ryders, while the Cruisers lowered their weapon states, sending hails to the ghost of the _Podargus_ regarding the carrier they were escorting. "Sir, they're sending communications to the ghosts? Shall we respond?"

"Mr. Pfeiffer, cut communications except with our Ryders. Mcclain, aim the Saviors at the Cruisers and evenly distribute the Trinities on their Ryders. I want rotating fire - if they're not getting hit during this battle then it'd better be because our weapons are gone. Prep missile pods one and two as well, just in case."

"Saviors targeting now sir, Trinities primed and ready. Ready to fire on your order." Shields was silent, the sounds of PACT hails from Pfeiffer's headset growing louder as their captains demanded information. "Sir, they're readying weapons to fire on us again."

"Now, Mr. Mcclain." Half remembering a crewman's shout from before, Shields yelled out. "Shatter their skies!" The six super-heavy shots of the Savior cannons streaked through the void at a comfortable three thousand kilometers per second, crossing the distance in under three seconds - too slow for the cruisers to react. Thankfully, for PACT, this vanguard unit's shielding was a tier above the garrison at the communications relay, and the expected casualties were instead fully functioning cruisers that were just a bit pissed off. "Captain, we've got six hits! Energy readings put their shielding in the forty percent range, another salvo will be their death knell! Trinities have fired on the Ryders - at least one dead in the void and the rest are being tracked."

"Redirect those freed trinities on the Cruisers, see if they can wear down their Shields. Asaga, Chigara, their Ryders are coming right for us, you need to intercept!" The only confirmation he got was the _Black Jack_ boosting toward the PACT Ryders. The Missile pods on her shoulders rotated up, each tube firing out towards the PACT lackeys. Behind it came the _Liberty_ , its shield emitters moved into operation position.

Pfeiffer piped up again. "Captain, PACT Cruisers have fired on the ghosts, they're disabled. We've only got one escort now, best make it count."

"Keep the Trinities firing and fire Saviors again once they're ready." Instead of firing each Trinity turret at once, firing hot shots in sequence kept hostile shields from regarding fully between volleys, as well as keeping fast moving Ryders pinned. The only downside was the lack of knockout punch, as an individual Trinity could, at best, cut a thin civilian yacht. This was not a fight for knockout punches. An affirmation sounded off from Mcclain, while Shields monitored his Ryders. Asaga was ducking and weaving from shots from PACT while Chigara was focusing shield strength milliseconds before impact of their fire. "I'd call this another raid, we're barely getting scratched," one of the crew below said to a neighbor. Obviously, they forgot the microphones and speaker system set up so Shields could hear and respond to what they said. But the man was right - their Ryder compliment was wearing down PACT's, and combined Trinity fire was more than enough to keep them from getting a good shot. Meanwhile, the cruisers were slowly losing shield strength, just in time for another volley to escape from the _Sunrider_.

An explosions appeared in the middle of one of the cruisers for a second before it winked out of existence. "Kill confirmed Captain, cruiser dow-"

Pfeiffer didn't get a chance to finish that sentence as a pair of impacts hammered onto the _Sunrider_. Even with inertial dampeners, not everything was blocked. "Report! I thought we got one!" Ava was the first to speak up, yelling for the pilots, before Pfeiffer got a chance. "Asaga, Chigara, how many Ryders do you see?"

" _There's two down here Ava, everything's fine!"_

Shields realized what that really meant. "Two Ryders. Chigara, do you see two Ryders?"

" _Yes Captain."_

Ava turned to him, Pfeiffer looking between the two. "Alright, we're in a battle, someone mind explaining what that means?"

"It means, Mr. Pfeiffer, that there's a missing PACT Ryder that managed to slip through our sensor net and either destroy, or more probable, rip off one of our sensor suites. That's why the Cruiser isn't even there anymore, because it is. We just can't see it. Get me a diagnostic on the sensors and tell Chigara which one is missing, get her out there now!"

The Engineering Officer, Frenz, was already on it. "Captain, it's D-9. Chigara, I'm sending a route now!" The _Liberty_ immediately disengaged from the skirmish, heading straight for the port side sensor suites. _"Captain, I can already see it. It's sloppy removal, I can fix it."_ The sound of Asaga's cheering with the destruction of another Ryder went unheard, as did another round of Savior fire directed at the PACT Cruiser still seen. It exploded and started to drift away from the _Sunrider_ , her reactor completely destroyed. "Someone confirm that kill, make sure we didn't lose another sensor." From below, he was proven wrong by Frenz's diagnostics. _"Captain, I'm moving to repair the sensor now."_

"Understood Chigara. Asaga, redirect to Chigara. There's a Ryder hiding out there and I can't risk it."

" _Will do Cap'n!"_

Several things happened at once. Chigara started to repair the sensor suite a way only she knew how. Asaga fired a last missile at the last Ryder and flew off to her comrade. Mcclain gave the order to redirect additional Trinities on the Cruisers. The Savior autoloaders calculated how much propellant to fit behind each shot. And then the hidden PACT Ryder appeared near Chigara.

The pilot was nearly hugging the _Sunrider_ , unable to be seen without the local sensor suite offline. He had crept closer and closer to the _Liberty_ until they were within visual range, raised his cannon, and fired until it was empty. Her left side shield emitter broke off and started to drift away, while several holes were made across the rest of her Ryder. Chigara screamed for help the moment the first shot hit her in the back, and Asaga saw the two almost immediately after the PACT Ryder had finished his assault. She drew her melee weapon and sliced his mechanical arm off, with it, the cannon, then again his other arm. The Ryder fired thrusters to escape away, but it was no use - Asaga threw the _Black Jack_ straight into the other Ryder, bashing it with all her mech's might in revenge.

"Captain, a pair of shuttles have left the hangar and are headed to the dead sensor zone. They grabbed the docking additions, it appears they're going to grab the _Liberty_ before she floats too far away."

"First off, good for them, second, get me their names so I reprimand them afterwards. Helm, orient the _Sunrider_ for a full broadside against those PACT cruisers, we're blind on the starboard side. Mcclain, keep those cruisers under our guns, be ready to destroy the Cruisers the moment you can. And will someone please tell me if we offed the other Ryders already!"

"All Ryders account for sir, the cruisers are the only substantial threat now!" After several more called hits, the _Sunrider_ was finally in position to point her entire port side arsenal at the PACT Cruisers. "Mcclain, if it's aimed at those bastards, it'd better be firing."

On his holomonitors, a half dozen three meter cannon shells fired at the cruisers, while a pair of missiles streaked towards them, closing the gap half as fast. This time, both ships were destroyer, confirmed, and reconfirmed. "Captain, clean kills, definitely confirmed this time, all other sensor suites online have confirmed. Asaga's killed the final Ryder, and the shuttles have dragged the _Liberty_ back into the Hangar. Medical team dispatched now, along with a majority of the Engineering and Maintenance crew."

Shields sighed, knowing the answer to the question he needed to ask. "Define a majority, Commander."

"All of them, Captain."

"Of course, I suspected nothing less. Helm, ping the diplomats and tell them their escort has arrived, we'll be ready to take them on as soon as we can."

Pfeiffer turned his chair and sent an image to Shields' holomonitors. "Sir, take a look at this. We've got an unidentified signature, it looks like it's unable to warp out."

"Send out Asaga to grab it, we're going to have a nice little chat with this PACT Bastard."

* * *

Three dozen engineers, mechanics, and assorted maintenance staff were already in the hangar waiting for the shuttle pilots to drop the _Liberty_ , who did their best not to to simply dump it on the floor. The second it touched down, before the medical team could even get close, the workers were on the _Liberty_ , trying to find the emergency escape toggle on the outside. One crewman found a lever, but when pulled only produced a thick violet liquid that seeped from the front of the _Liberty_. Commander Brown pounded on the Ryder, trying to elicit a response from its pilot. "Chigara! Chigara can you hear us?" As if prompted by the question, the Ryder's circular entrance port opened, revealing a nearly unharmed Chigara. With haste, a pair of engineers pulled her from inside the stricken beast and brought her to the medical team, following them to the medbay.

Meanwhile, the rest of the engineering crew gathered around the front of the _Liberty_ , and Commander Brown stood atop one of the feet to speak to them. "Alright guys, we know what went down and it looks like Chigara's out of action for at least an hour, we're going to have to make repairs our… Ah, ourselves." Some of the men turned behind them at the sound of a hangar door opening, while others continued to listen to Brown as he realized who had just entered the Hangar. Captain Shields.

"Oh Commander, don't stop because I'm here, I'd love to hear your speech. Certainly would be nicer than anything I've ever said."

Each of the crewmen turned at his voice and stood at attention, trying their best to save face. Commander Brown did as well, staying on top of the _Liberty_. "Captain on the deck!"

"At ease. Anyone who isn't Commander Brown, I believe there is a ship to run. Make haste." Instantly, a stampede charged around him and into the _Sunrider_ , back to duty. Brown jumped off the _Liberty_ and calmly walked to his commanding officer. "Captain Shields, my deepest apologies for what happened. We were all concer-" Shields raised a hand to stop him. "I know exactly what happened and why you did it Commander, and I want you to know without anyone else hearing, I do approve. And since I'd rather not punish the entire Engineering, Maintenance, and Ryder Support Departments, I'll settle for making an example. That's two weeks on half rations, Mr. Brown. Ensure this does not happen again."

He nodded, and slowly walked off to his post. The mechanics in the hangar were already retrieving machining tools and setting them near the _Liberty_ , electing to repair it where it lay instead of docking it. Soon after Shields and Brown left, the _Black Jack_ appeared and entered the hangar, literally pulling another, yellow Ryder with it as if it were naught but a bag of garbage. Asaga kept her weapons pointed at it while she waited for the security team that Shields told her would collect its pilot.

The black-clad Ceran Marines arrived some time after, electing to wear their heavy EVA armor to intimidate whoever was inside this Ryder. Petty Officer Aguirre, still healing from the Pirate Base, was walking with them, carrying on a sidearm and prisoner restraints. The rest were marching in perfect step, a blocky standard issue rifle in each of their hands. A pair of the Ryder mechanics joined them once they passed, cutting tools in their hands and on their backs. They were the first onto the new Ryder, cutting open a rectangular hole near the life signs inside the Ryder, however the privilege of opening it was left to the Marines. A petite, raven haired girl was hauled up and immediately had her hands and feet restrained. The Marines, with no uncertain actions, roughed her off the Ryder and marched her off towards the interrogation cells for Shields at a later time.

Asaga darted past them as they marched towards the detention center, obviously heading towards the med bay to see her closest friend. Aguirre watched her turn a corner they wouldn't, then clicked his communicator on. He was happy the airtight suits were also able to muffle noise from the inside out - silencing their chatter to the outside. "Captain, it's Aguirre. We've got the pilot, mostly unharmed. Taking her to the cells now."

" _Excellent Petty Officer. Post a guard, no one even sees her without my permission."_

"Happily sir. Should I send the rest back to post as well?"

" _Yes, Petty Officer. Tell me everything when I get down there."_

The group arrived at the holding cell area, and brought the pilot into one of them. Brought was a rather polite word for throwing her in without undoing her restraints. The incredibly spare room was occupied by a single bed and embossed with "PRISONER ONE" along the wall. A soundproof, glass window occupied a majority of the opposite wall, adjacent to the corridor, with a triple lock pad attached the door - combination, thumb print, and retina scanner. Only the Executive Officer and Security Officer could open it, and then only with permission of the Captain.

"Captain, she's ready when you are."

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Shields arrived in the detention center, Crescentia at his side, her holopad in transcription mode. "Petty Officer, what can you tell me of our guest?"

"She's one mean bitch, sir, there aren't two ways about it. The men did the usual search and found enough weaponry to topple a cruiser's crew without any issue."

"I sincerely hope she did not carry that large an array of weapons like some fantasy shooter game, Petty Officer."

"Of course not sir, she had poisonous gas or something on her person, guys in the med bay knew what it was without even opening it. A few small arms on her and the Ryder as well." He walked the Captain over to a table where several exotic weapons lay behind a marine, a quartet of vials containing a transparent, yellow liquid. "You want my opinion on her, Captain?"

Shields nodded. "Go ahead."

"She was hired by PACT to kill something important around these environs. So it's either us on the _Sunrider_ , those Alliance Diplomats, or maybe some government on Versta." He pointed at the vials. "Those little things? That's the Tular Virus. No cure is possible, only takes three bacteria to kill a human, at least that's what they told me in medbay. So if she's got 4 vials of it, she wanted to kill a lot of people." Shields cautiously eyed the vials, then turned back to the Prisoner, who stared right back. "Anything else, like a name, Petty Officer?"

"She kept it spare Captain, though the big word Phoenix embossed on the side must be the name of her Ryder. Aside from that, we've got nothing."

"Thank you Petty Officer, I believe that's all we'll get without asking." He nodded to Crescentia, who was ready on transcription, then turned on the PA system to the cell. "Pilot of the _Phoenix_ , state your name and rank."

" _Is… is this a PACT vessel?"_

"Answer mine and I'll answer yours."

" _Icari Isidolde. Mercenary."_ Shields heard one of the troopers mutter 'bullshit', and the look Ava gave him told him it wasn't even picked up by the transcriber. "Were you hired by PACT?"

" _No, I'm on a private mission and that's all I can say."_ Shields kept his hand on the PA and turned to the marines around him. "Well men, she's not going to tell us anything else. I guess we're done here. Dump her weapons into the trash chute, and have medical take care of her virus." With that, his hand came off the PA, not allowing a response from the Mercenary in the cell. A trooper clamped his weapon onto his back and carried Icari's weapons with him, while Aguirre took the virus vials off to the medical bay. The pounding on the glass and door went unheard by the Cerans as they left, the humor drained from the situation. Just when she'd stopped pounding, Shields, Crescentia, and a trooper returned. "I told you to answer my questions, it's not that hard, Pilot."

" _I really can't tell you, I signed a contract._ "

"Well, can't fault you for integrity, however little you have of it." He started to ask a question when she cut him off. _"Is this a PACT vessel?"_

"This is the finest ship in the entire Ceran Navy, Mercenary. Why did you approach for purpose of attack?"

" _Ceran was conquered...The entire Ceran Space Force was pressed into service by PACT. I thought you were another PACT vessel."_

Shields rolled his eyes. "Right, because PACT is known for blowing holes in their own ships."

She opened and closed her mouth, silently sighing. _"In case you haven't noticed, it's a giant free for all out here, Captain. Most everyone is signing up with PACT because that's who they think will win. Not if I have anything to say about it."_

"You're not a fan of them, I take it."

" _Not in the slightest. I would've taken out that advanced fleet if you hadn't. So, are you three going to tell me what Cerans are doing out here?"_

"No chance in the afterlife. We're under contract too."

Icari cocked her head in question for a moment, her mental gears trying to grind out a statement. _"Let me guess. Alliance detail."_

Shields looked to Ava, who returned to glance, shaking her head. _"Admiral Grey hired you to deal with the Diplomats, didn't he? Don't worry, he asked me to do it too. Guess he wanted to be sure."_

"You seem very willing to share this information. How do you know we haven't just lied to you and are PACT?"

The pilot smirked and obviously tried not to laugh. _"Captain, don't kid yourself. You're not incompetent, at least compared to those PACT elements. And you Trooper friend over there, he's not using a standard issue PACT rifle. Yeah, they have those."_ The soldier looked down at his rifle and shrugged his shoulders, realizing he'd given the Cerans away in the bluff. "Fair enough Pilot. Tell us where your contract is and we'll consider letting you out."

She stirred, knowing they'd leave again if she didn't give them the information. She decided to give it up as well, maybe it would get her a step closer onto her Ryder and out of this ship. _"It's in a drive underneath the primary coolant vent in the cockpit. I could just tell you, though."_ When Shields continued to listen, she smirked. _"For a price."_

"Now, let me guess this one, Pilot. You'll tell us what you think we want to know, in exchange for your return to your Ryder."

" _I might throw in why I was hired to boot, if we speed this us."_ Shields looked to Ava, who, once more, shook her head in a way of saying it wasn't worth it. Shields, as usual, disregarded it. "Deal. If we're going to be cliche, no funny business."

Crescentia sighed, taking just an extra second longer to move to the locks and very slowly open each of them. When Icari left the cell, she took in a long breath. "Even on a mercenary starship, the cell air always taste the same. You can always taste that metal air filter they've got, you know?" When neither of the three Cerans agreed with her, she sighed. "Right. Neutrals. Probably don't have a recorded war in your history. Right, well, PACT. Grey sent me to take out those diplomats. Everyone knows war between PACT and the Alliance is going to happen - Grey and his faction want it sped up before PACT gets too big and there aren't any neutrals left to gamble for. Him and, what's his name, Mallon? Malone? Something like that, a senator. He's been blocking that pussy of a President, Alythe, from appeasing PACT. The diplomats die or get discovered by PACT, bing bang boom, a war to end PACT. You'd probably get a medal for doing it too."

Shields sighed and shook his head. "Ava, get this pilot to quarters, post a guard. She'll be confined until she's needed." He left, muttering to himself. "I swear to god I'm the only sane person on this ship." The three looked at each other, a collective look of _What's his problem_ evident.

* * *

It was common on the _Sunrider_ for important item to come after important item, and now as no exception. As soon as he was seated on the dias, Crescentia was on him. "Captain, about what that Mercenary said…"

"Yes Ava, I know. War is going to happen."

"And we'd only be hastening it. Every second we wait, is a second PACT uses to take another world. Captain, we need to be cautious and think of the bigger picture - a dozen diplomats. Do they cost possibly losing to PACT?"

Shields turned away from her, adopting a more formal and composed form that his usual near-casual self. He walked to the edge of the dais, Ava following him. "Commander Crescentia, how many neutral planets are there?"

"Upwards in the thousands, sir."

"Rough estimate, we say half a billion people on each? That's in the area of Trillions."

"Yes sir. I fail to see your point with math."

"My point, Commander, is that we need to consider everything. Those dozen diplomats, are they worth billions of lives? Probably not as a group. Are they worth a war with PACT, right now? No, not in the slightest. If we let them die, if we let one single diplomat be captured, the Alliance is going to turn its guns on PACT and wage a war unseen for centuries. Entire planets will burn. An entire galaxy is going to plunge into chaos and war. But if we let the Alliance grow, make them take more neutral planets, starve PACT and make them expand too far, we make our position only greater." His voice was raising with each word, growing loud enough that the rest of the bridge crew could clearly hear them. "So, Commander, when I say 'We're going to save those diplomats' you better bet your commission that I mean we are going to go down there, and personally shield them with our own goddamn ship to make sure that there is no war until we're ready. Am I perfectly clear?"

Ava swallowed, knowing she was beaten, and nodded. "Crystal Clear… sir."

"Good. I mean it. We will save those diplomats no matter the cost. It is not about Versta, it is not about The Alliance, it's about the men that want to save them. Now, Pfeiffer, what do we need to know about them? Are we taking them to the Alliance ourselves?"

"Negative Captain, they've arranged transport on a civilian vessel, the _Agamemnon._ We're going to cover their exit of System, then warp out on our own. They'll be ready to launch in about twelve hours, sir."

"And of our Ryders? How does Chigara's repairs?"

"Well, the _Liberty_ is operational but the primary shield apparatus is destroyed until we can get into a better repair station. The _Black Jack_ is stocked and locked, ready to rock on your command. The mechanics also salvaged the new Ryder, the _Phoenix_ , in case we needed a hot swap in battle."

"Any updates on PACT? No incoming vessels?"

"Negative Captain. We picked through some of their data banks, we've got about a day's long window until their fleet arrives."

"Good then. We'll pick up the Diplomats after the crew has been rested. Until then, keep the _Sunrider_ in geosynchronous orbit above them. Be ready to fire on anything coming near."

Shields formally handed command to Crescentia and the night shift, then took off to the medical bay. Without refugees, it was more like a normal military hospital - a pair of patients inside and a medical staff quizzing each other on their personal lives. A single marine stood in front of a presumably locked door, guarding the vials of Tular Virus. One of the nurses, as well as Jimenez, were holding onto Petty Officer Bertozzi, who was struggling to walk with a metal prosthetic. Everyone turned their heads to the Captain as he entered, but the unspoken rule of medicine over command gave them the right not to salute. Shields was happy to allow it, more concerned with crew well being rather than procedure. Bertozzi waved to the Captain as he approached the trio. "Captain, good to see you. I heard something big happened out there. Anything I should know?"

"Nothing major, Bertozzi. A small engagement with PACT is all. You know, I figured you'd be out of physical therapy by now. Doctor, is there something I missed?"

Jimenez laughed, much to Bertozzi's dismay. "There's no issue Captain, the marine simply finds the hard way to work and sticks with it. Of course, we couldn't just fit the prosthetic on her leg and call it a day. I think she's had it on for less than a week at this point."

"And I'm perfectly able to walk at this point, when do I get the chance to get back into armor, doc?"

"That's up to the engineers to decide, Petty Officer. They'll have to take your armor's lower leg and install interface equipment to allow you to use it. Ask them when you're out of here, I've put in the request." Bertozzi sighed, now half leaning and half sitting on the railing. "So, Captain, I doubt you came down here to chat up a cripple." She looked towards Chigara, who was quietly resting on her own bed. "Bet it was the new girl. She's a bit shook up, but she's fine if you ask me." Jimenez's lack of counter argument backed up the marine's statement.

"I came down to check on both of you, and that virus the mercenary brought on. Is it as deadly as you told Aguirre, Doctor?"

"Without a doubt Captain, I lost some good friends to it when some nut decided rats weren't good enough to experiment on. It's a nasty virus. The sooner we destroy it all, the better." Shields nodded, then left the medical bay, his day's work over with.

His walk back to his quarters were uneventful, thankfully. His normal hello and short chat with his door guard was pleasant, swapping stories about Cera this time, instead of current events. With his door shut and locked for the night, and the night shift handled, Shields finally found his moment to rest. Thankfully, the ship's automatic dimmers were active, his loft only bright enough to see where he was going. _Wait a second,_ he thought, _we don't have automatic dimmers!_ The usual hand motion to raise lights failed, and it was at that point Icari revealed herself, sitting in his chair.

"You know, your Cerans never were so great at the whole cyber security thing, so I'm wondering where the upgrades came from. It was almost a chore to break in instead of a laugh. Don't bother calling security, I've disabled the outward communications."

He walked towards the door, letting out a sigh loud enough for her to hear. "Now Captain, you don't think the door is unlocked, do you?"

"No, I don't. I think the code I taught my guard is going to get through, and in… I think a minute there'll be a squad of Ceran marines outside that door, and trust me when I say they care more for me than a door's well being. Tell me why I shouldn't alert my my right now." She stood from the chair and walked to a picture on his bookshelf, holding it close. "How many people died that day, Ceran?"

"A planet's worth, not that you care. Put that down before you break it."

"She looks young, and I doubt your time in training gave you the chance to have children. So, your sister, maybe?"

"None of this has convinced me to not call for guards. Last chance." He was already turned, raised fist close to the door, staring her down the whole time. "I know what it's like to lose a family, Captain. PACT did mine in like they did yours. Now, I can finally hit them back, with an army and navy to rival them. With your help, we can take down PACT. I'll even sign on to your little Ryder squad to book if you'll fight PACT."

Shields pounded twice on the door, then, outwardly unperturbed, walked directly to wear she stood, snatching the picture from her hands. He placed it very calmly back on the bookshelf, making sure it was lined up as it had to be, then threw an arm out to grab the pilot. She tried to dodge and grab something on her waist, but her arm was caught. "Now, listen here, mercenary. You think fighting is all there is because it's all you do. We Cerans were taught differently, we Cerans are not people of the moment. We Cerans are long thinkers, planners. And we know we need to fight PACT. Each and every member of this crew is fully devoted to that ideal, even if it means our deaths. Now you come here and tell us we haven't been fighting PACT, that everything we've done has meant nothing. Don't you dare tell us we aren't fighting PACT, because we are, more than you ever could." The Security team outside pounded twice on the door. Icari looked at the door, then Shields, hoping he'd let go and utter some counter signal to stop them from breaking in. He didn't.

"Your time is up, Mercenary. I thought it a good idea to give you room, but I can tell you prefer the cell." He marched the two up to the door, pounding once. "Unlock the door or they'll blast it open. Maybe if you unlock it we'll bring you food this time." A stomach grumble gave away her position, and soon she opened the door. The marines quickly snatched her away from Shields and walked her to the cell that would be her new home. "You'll regret this Captain, I swear it!" His posted guard turned between Icari and Shields before commenting. "You know, I think that's the most cliche thing of the day, Captain. Wouldn't you agree?"

* * *

Shields was quick to rise the next day, showering and checking for a shave in under fifteen minutes. He was out of his Quarter's in another fifteen minutes, one of his many freshly cleaned uniforms off the rack. On the bridge, he called up the usual holomonitors and questioned Pfeiffer. "Update me on the _Agamemnon_ situation, Mr. Pfeiffer."

"Nothing unusual sir, they've reported all civilians on board and they're ready to move when we say so. Should I give the word?"

"In a moment, Mr. Pfeiffer." Shields pinged Asaga and Chigara, the latter out of medbay in record time. "Pilots, to your Ryders. Prepare for possible combat." The two gave acknowledgement after finishing some game in their break time. "Sir, we're being hailed by the _Agamemnon_."

"Put her through, Lieutenant."

A lack of hologram betrayed the low tech of the _Agamemnon_ compared to the _Sunrider_. _"Captain Shields, we're underway now. Any signs of PACT out there?"_

"Negative _Agamemnon_ , everything's all clear up here." The flash of normal white lighting to red caused someone on the bridge to sigh. Red points lit up on the sensor net. "Strike that _Agamemnon_ , we've got PACT signatures entering system. It's the invasion fleet. We'll deal with them." Shields put the liner on hold what amounted for 'hold.' "Mcclain, get targeting solutions on their transport ships, blast them with the trinities. If there's a carrier up there, pound it with the saviors, else, hit whatever's closest. Pfeiffer, see if you can raise the dead and send some ghosts to greet them. Helm, get us in between that fleet and the _Agamemnon_ immediately." Each member of the crew affirmed the orders, moving each piece of the _Sunrider_ in harmonious defiance against PACT.

"Captain, the Ryders have left the Hangar… wait a second, reading the third Ryder as exiting as well."

"Third? Who's piloting it Pfeiffer?"

"It's the Merc, Captain, apparently she jumped from the cell as soon as PACT arrived. She's headed for the _Agamemnon_!" On his holomonitor, the now yellow triangle representing the _Phoenix_ charged straight for the civilian liner. _"Uh, Captain, we're seeing a Ryder headed straight for us. There aren't any others, do we need direct Ryder support?"_

" _Agamemnon_ hold, we've got a situation." Icari continued to move to the _Agamemnon_ , raising her cannon and sword. _"_ Sunrider _, it's still coming! Please, call off your men!"_ With no immediate response, the communications officer on the liner was stricken with panic. _"Captain there are civilians on board! There are 600 civilians on board and you are condemning them to death!"_

Meanwhile, several thousand kilometers away and charging fast, Asaga called out to Icari. "Give up Mercenary, we're protecting these people! There's no way you can win!"

Icari yelled right back, not slowing in any capacity. _"You think you can win? You think that saving these people will save anyone else? The only thing you'll win is this war for PACT! And I won't let that happen!"_ She was seconds away from the _Agamemnon_ , when her comm system opened again. _"... 600 civilians on board and you are condemning them to death!"_ The Phoenix, without outside intervention, stopped accelerating. A comm line appeared on Shields' holomonitors, from Icari. _"I… I can't. You're right… Goddamnit, why?"_

"Because we are not PACT," he calmly spoke, completely off the cuff. "Because we are not them. Don't forget that, don't become what they have." Ava pushed a window to one of his free ones, showing the _Agamemnon_ warping out of system. Quick calculations put them going towards an Alliance station. "Captain, the _Agamemnon_ is clear. Should we get out of here?" Shields stared forward at the glass, the invisible PACT ships closing on Versta. They knew the _Sunrider_ was there, the lack of their advance elements proved it. "Mcclain, any Trinities that are charged, destroy their transports. Once they're discharged, Helm, get us to void, then three random jumps until we can go to Chigara's repair station." He keyed the command to speak to the Ryders. "Ryder Pilots, back to the _Sunrider_. Icari, that means you too."

No one could see the tears streaking down her face as she smiled and made her way back.


	7. Someone Lost, Someone Found

_A/N: Some might be happy with what I've done. I'd like to reiterate, don't care, muh realism_

* * *

"Captain, I just wanted to apologize for what I did."

Shields sighed, annoyed that Icari had, once more, broken into his room without detection. He silently wondered whether or not her hacking tools were worth stealing for Chigara to inspect. "Okay, Icari, three things. One, you're barely a legal Ceran Auxiliary; you don't have to call me Captain. Two, please for the love of the gods stop breaking into my quarters, you can just ask for me. Thirdly, I told you being a good guy was worthwhile."

"I-it's not like I was helping _you_ , Captain! I just didn't want to hurt those kids is all!" She took in a deep breath. "I would've done it… really. I would've killed those kids just to get even with PACT." Shields held up a hand at a point he thought was decent. "It's in the past now. Admiral Grey told me they arrived safely, and the _Sunrider_ wasn't even scratched. Weapons tells me we managed to take down a half million of their first wave troops as well, so it wasn't all loss."

Icari shook her head. "No, it's really not. I need to at least explain myself. When I was a kid… well, my family were all explorers. Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, eventually Dad when he met Mom and they had me… Soaring in space and telling the Alliance all the cool places there were…" She wiped a tear from her eye, smiling at the memories. "Then, one day, a PACT fleet stopped us, asking for something, I don't know anymore… They came, and boarded our home, and shot my mom in front of me. I-I ran to the escape pod, and… and the Alliance found me five days later, half-starved and out of supplies." More tears streaked down her face now, and Icari didn't even bother to wipe them away. "They found the wreckage… I was the only Isidolde left. I vowed to avenge my family."

Shields immediately considered replying with something along the lines of "And you'd kill children to do it," but realized just before he spoke that it wouldn't do any good for the situation. Instead, he stood from his seat and walked around the desk, embracing her in a hug. Icari refused to hug back, instead keeping her arms tucked against her chest. "Icari, everyone's lost someone on this ship. We understand." She pressed her head into his shoulder, silent for a few seconds. "I… I didn't expect this kindness, Captain. Maybe you're right, maybe we can beat PACT and not become them…"

"We can Icari. And we will. We have to, for everyone. For everyone." They stood in silence for just a little bit longer, before Icari pushed away. She looked up, the tears no longer flowing, and smiled. With that, she left, the guard on the outside not even bothering to be alerted by her anymore. Shields returned to his position, feeling a strong urge to brew and drink some tea at that very moment.

He walked down towards the lower half of his quarters, the more homely area. The kitchenette next to his bed was large enough for a small cooling unit and a stove with some counter tops. A small wooden box was tucked away from the stove, still wrapped and sealed since it left Cera. Shields cut the wrapping as delicately as possible, opening it to find a little envelope on top of the actual tea set. Knowing exactly who and where it came from, he went back upstairs for his letter opener, being as careful as he could.

 _Kayto,_

 _We're so proud of you. We know you'll protect Cera as best you can and let no harm come. Just remember us while you're up there in space, and stay calm! Don't let any smugglers get the best of you! Your father and I went and bought this tea set for you when we heard you were going to be graduating Officer's Schooling, we hope you put it to good use. I also slipped in some extra things as well, hope you have fun! We love you so much Kayto, don't you ever forget that!_

 _Mom, Dad, & Sis_

That was enough. Losing his planet, he could deal with, kept busy as long as he could. Interacting with crew, hearing their stories, keeping them happy, leading the ship into the real unknown. Saving slaves, fighting PACT, saving diplomats and children from PACT, it was enough to keep him from thinking back. But this, a letter from his parents, that was enough. A single tear flowed from his eye down his cheek, splattering onto the dry countertop. A comrade followed, then another, the first time he'd cried since he and Ava had left High School and never saw each other again.

He set the letter down and slowly lowered himself into sitting in his kitchenette, head held in his hands. The realization, that sudden shock that his family was gone, completely. No life pods to leave a planet, none of them on the shuttles for the _Sunrider_ 's christening, just gone. Everyone else he'd known but Ava, never to be seen again. In this single moment, Kayto Shields, legal inheritor of the Ceran Continuation of Government, with no one near him but a single guard that didn't know what he was going through, he truly felt alone.

* * *

Later that evening, Shields smiled as the kettle came to boil and steam came to rise. It felt good to do something, even if it was as simple as brewing tea. And simple being defined as using the instruction pamphlet that came with it. Suddenly, as he was pouring the slightly leafy tea into a cup, his door alarm pinged. He came out from the small kitchen and yelled "Come in!"

He heard the click clack of Ceran heels enter his room, meaning it was most likely Ava. He muffled voice carried through his loft. "Captain, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time." Sneaking the pamphlet away into the cooling unit, he replied. "Of course not Ava, an opportune one actually. Want a cup of tea?"

"Happily, sir. Permission to discuss matters over tea?" The small chuckle at the end of her question revealed enough - they were both off duty by this point. "Permission granted, Commander. While I'm getting this ready, go ahead and take a seat down here. What do you want to start with?"

"Aren't you brewing hot tea sir? Are you sure you can concentrate?"

"Ava, if I wasn't brewing tea right now I'd almost be insulted and you're right I've somehow managed to brew this pot upside down." She rushed into the kitchen at that, hoping nothing horrible happened. When she saw a pair of pristine cups on equally well kept cups, held by her smiling captain. She took one and walked with him towards the pair of chairs and coffee table next to the stairs. "So, Ava, what's up?"

"Just a chat is all, Kayto. We haven't had a good chance to talk in the last few months." A memory crossed her mind and she smiled. "Do you remember playing cards in the council room back in High School? We'd work until everyone else left, then practice our bluffs until it was dark out." Shields smiled as he took a sip of tea as well, swallowing a rather large leaf. "Well, it's been awhile since we played cards but I remember. You know, you haven't changed all that much."

"Says the Captain of the Free Ceran Forces." They both chuckled. "Point made. You're right, just like High School. I'm still keeping you out of trouble now." She feigned shock as he continued. "You'd always try to solve everyone's problems… oh, what was that slogan of yours?" He snapped his fingers trying to recall the campaign from decades ago. Once he remembered, he threw on a fake Ryuvian accent to boot. "Right, right, it was like, uh, it is the Duty of the President to Solve the Body's issues!" The two of them laughed into their tea cups, taking little care not to spill them. Once they calmed down, Ava spoke up. "Things were simpler back then, at least. And now, here you are, solving all of our problems. I may have rubbed off on you, Kayto."

"How do you mean, things were simpler? Back then there were so many rules, now it's definitely simpler. Save people, stop PACT. Rules of Engagement are pretty clear at this point." She gently put the tea cup down on the coffee table. "Well, not completely. We're straddling a very fine line into becoming hired black ops for the Alliance AND the Mining Union Kayto. Knowing our enemies might be tough soon." Now was his turn to put the cup down, leaning back as deep as he could into the leather chair. "Ava, naught but a week ago I was faced with the decision - kill those diplomats, or save them. I made it very clear too - we are here to save people, and the galaxy, from PACT. It's not complicated, it's not hard, it's the easiest assignment we've been handed. Stop PACT. Anyone that wants to stop PACT and do it right, they're good guys in my book."

"And what, exactly, is the right way, Kayto?" He frowned, and then tapped his temple twice. "With honor and dignity, that's the way. If I can't call their parents and tell them what they've done with pride, then it isn't right."

"Just making sure, Kayto." He nodded. "Of course. Now, let's finish this tea, I don't want to drink it all alone!"

* * *

Later, on the bridge, Shields opened a comm line. He was surprised to receive a hologram back, then realized why he did - smugglers always found a way to get something like that. "So, you're Templar, are you?"

" _They call me Nigel Templaire, actually. Common mistake, get it all the time. Let's get down to business Captain. Ms. Brooks told me you're looking for a few things, aren't you?"_

"Depends on what you've got."

The blue, transparent man in front of his laughed in his chair, looking much more comfortable than Shields'. _"Oh Cap, we got a lot here on this ship! Well, warheads, shield generators, boosters, you name it and I probably got it."_

"Right, we're looking for a Ryder Thruster Pack, Military Grade. Some hell darts to boot. Deduct the cost from our Mining Union account." The hologram man nodded, then winked out. Ava was on him before Shields realized. "He's taken a sizeable amount from our account sir, but it looks like a shuttle is making for departure from his ship. Looks like he had all of it."

"He better have it all, we told Brooks to arrange this drop for what we needed. The less he knows about the whole order, the better. Best to make it look like a haggle, eh?" His XO agreed, starting on the topic of actually associating with smugglers before immediately being cut off by Pfeiffer. "Captain, we're receiving a priority transmission from Brooks." He approved it on his terminal, and another blue ghost appeared on the dais.

" _Captain, you've got a high priority assignment. From Ryuvia."_

"Pfeiffer check comm relays. Sorry Ms. Brooks, I must've misheard you. You didn't say Ryuvia, did you?"

" _I did, Captain. King Jaylor is seeking aid from the secretive ghost ship and one of our men let slip we can contact them. He wants some Lost Technology scavenged from Nomodorn, only for your eyes to see. While I cannot order you, well, you won't have much after this if you don't take the mission."_

"Fair enough Ms. Brooks, we'll look into it. Any other information to give?"

" _That's it. Get on it, Shields. Brooks out."_ Her hologram blinked into a thousand small starts that faded into nothing. Pfeiffer forwarded a packet to his holopad, which he disconnected from the network before reading. After a minute, he nodded, deleting the file. "Helm, best speed to Nomodorn."

Nearly an hour later, the _Sunrider_ appeared in the uncharted space near Nomodorn. The backwater planet, Tautenia, hadn't even left their system since Ryuvia fell, and its Space Defense Fleet was only marginally better than a pirate fleet. Marginally.

"Captain, we've entered Nomodorn territory. Running base scan… Definite Pirate signatures detected in system Captain."

Shields keyed the PA on as he switched his holomonitors to the needed tactical displays. "All Crew to Battle Stations, I repeat, all crew to Battle Stations. Pilots to your Ryders, prepare for engagement." Once it was off, he began adjusting screens and taking in their information. "Pfeiffer, send out the ghosts and get me an overview of their fleet, are we dealing with major pirates here?"

"Ghosts are out Captain, they believe an Alliance Fleet is here to engage. Scanners are showing… Sir it's that micropilot from before, she's leading them again. Wait… We're picking up a distress signal from a civilian ship nearby Captain. Alliance Registry, they must've picked up on the ghosts. Should we render aid?"

"You said a civilian ship, right Pfeiffer?"

"Affirmative sir, the _Mochi,_ bound for Alliance Space." Shields pulled up a line with the Ryder pilots. Their faces shared a single screen on his right. "Pilots, there's a civilian ship out there about to be attacked by those Pirates. They are not to touch the civilians, do you understand me?" Icari bowed her head as if it were a slight at her, but the other two nodded in understanding. The Ryders disengaged and sped out of the _Sunrider_ , destined for the _Mochi_. Meanwhile, Shields examined the pirate fleet, a pair of frigates, a pair of bombers, four Ryders and that big Ryder, the _Havoc_. Easy pickings, some of them.

"Mcclain, fire Saviors at their frigates, even distribution. Focus Trinities on their bombers and let our Ryders deal with theirs."

"What about the _Havoc_ Captain?"

"She's a short tempered Ryder Pilot, we wait and see what she's got planned." A half dozen blips appeared on the tactical display in front of Shields, shells from the Saviors. One of the bombers disappeared from the display as the Trinities overloaded shields and destroyed it, the other Bomber survived thanks only to extra shielding and armor plating. Meanwhile, the four Ryders headed straight for the _Mochi_ , only to come under fire from the auxiliaries. The _Phoenix_ snuck up on one of them with a ravaging of their sensor suite and started mercilessly slashing with sword, while the _Black Jack_ strafed over a pair of Pirates, peppering them with cannon and laser fire. The _Liberty_ moved into a position behind the _Mochi_ , letting its now repaired shield arrays activate and cover the civilian ship in a healthy blue glow before it disappeared. _"Civilians shielded, Captain."_

"Understood Chigara, make sure they stay safe. Icari, there's a stray Ryder headed for the _Mochi_ , you are to intercept." Her portrait nodded, the _Phoenix_ finished destroying one Ryder. "Time on target for the shells, Mcclain?"

"One minute sir, looks like at least half will be hits. Saviors ready to fire in 30 seconds." The two frigates had turned to evasive maneuvers, their former cargo forms betraying them now that their targets could fight back. Even the bulky bomber was more nimble than the frigates were. And it did them no good when a shot from a Savior penetrated their shields and burrowed into their hulls, blowing massive holes into their sides. One of the frigates, hit by two shells, failed to correct its course - central processing or even the bridge, completely blown out. "Confirmed kill, Captain. The other frigate is still operational. Current enemy fleet status at 50 percent strength."

"Focus the freed trinities on the _Havoc_ , Mr. Mcclain, then bring out Saviors down to target it. Don't fire, we'll just threaten with them." Pfeiffer popped up that point. "Captain, the pirate leader is trying to hack her way into our ship. Orders?"

"Can we get into her systems, Mr. Pfeiffer?"

"Affirmative, already pinging life support and navigation on the _Havoc_."

"Good. Send her away from here, maybe a nice crash landing on Tautenia. They can deal with her." The _Havoc_ rocketed off towards the backwater planet, though the shaking suggested that Cosette was trying her damndest to take the controls back. "Captain, we're detecting warp signatures…"

On the tactical display, a pair of PACT Missile Frigates and PACT Cruisers appeared far from the current battle, escorted by a quartet of Ryders. Instantly, the remaining Pirate Frigate and Bomber rallied to them, but coordinated Ceran fire ceased their chance to escape. Before Shields could speak, the cargo doors of the _Mochi_ opened up to reveal another Ryder, which evacuated the ship moments before it was blown to pieces by a PACT laser barrage. Missiles ravaged it nearly a minute later. "Captain, they just destroyed the civilian ship, which disgorged a Ryder. Markings put it as mercenary as well."

"Mcclain, target those Cruisers first, we can use the Trinities and point defense cannon to intercept incoming missiles. Hit them with the Saviors. Pilots, focus on their Ryders but keep away from the Cruisers. Icari, aim for the Bombers. Chigara, pull back to the _Sunrider_ , we'll need point shielding. Asaga, give those Ryders hell. Pfeiffer, launch all ghosts and get me a line to that Ryder." His nod informed him he was connected. "Pilot, this is Captain Shields of the CSF _Sunrider_. We require your aid in destroying this PACT fleet."

" _My name is Claude Trillo, Captain, I'm happy to help."_ He cut the line, keeping her off the Ceran battle net just in case. A pair of explosions told Shields what he needed to know - a PACT Cruiser down from Savior fire and a Ryder Bomber destroyed by the _Phoenix_ and her ghostly abilities. When the Saviors missed, Shields cursed under his breath. "Give them a taste of their own medicine, Mcclain. Fire Hell Darts right at the Cruisers. The frigates are slower, retrain the Saviors on them." The two Hell Darts readied for combat rocketed off into the void, passing unscathed through PACT triple A. Explosions dotted one of the Frigates are her munitions dump was hit, rendering the ship dead in the void. The other Frigate stayed alive for only a moment longer, before her thrusters cooled down and her energy outputs hit zero. "Two more confirmed kills captain, and we've got scuffed paint."

"Have the engineers buff it out the moment the get the chance, inform Chigara if anything big breaks off." An affirmative from Pfeiffer. "Captain, Ryders are reporting enemy Ryders are down and Bombers are in their sights. Both missile frigates are down. The Cruisers are the remaining major threat." The distinct pair of heavy thumps from kinetic impacts sounded on the bridge. "Sections four and nineteen are breached sir, bulkheads sealed. At least one casualty confirmed, possible additionals." Six Savior shells launched from the _Sunrider_ half to one cruiser and half to another, overtaken by high powered laser shots. The shields overloaded on the cruisers, and had no chance to come back online before the Saviors destroyed them.

A request message appeared before Shields, and he accepted it after deactivating hologram emitters and activated the voice modulator. The portly form of a PACT Captain appeared, intent on delivering a message of hate before Shields cut him off. "Captain… your people have touched my lands for far too long… consider this battle… the start of your end… You will know my Retribution." Realizing who he was speaking with, the portly gentleman went completely white, then cut off the comm. A PACT corvette decloaked and revealed itself near the edge of the system and warped away. "Ryders, return to the Hangar. Mercenary, you're invited to make repairs, follow the others." The only confirmation was the pink Ryder following the other three

Pfeiffer was the first to speak once it appeared all was well. "So, Captain. Your lands?"

"I figured some added flair would be nice, Mr. Pfeiffer, give them a good scare. They come this far into the Neutral Rim and they roused the ghost ship. Might slow them down a bit, at least compared to their loss of an entire communication relay."

" _Well whatever happ'n'd Cap'n'd, we got 'em good!"_

"Thanks Asaga, now get back in here, keep our new guest in the hangar until I get there."

* * *

Escorted by a pair of Ceran Marines, and bringing a member of the medical staff, Shields entered the Hangar and saw his three auxiliaries chatting with the mercenary. Her long pink hair kept her face from sight at this end of the Hangar, but the expressions of his pilots told him what he needed to know - she was awkward, and maybe didn't even know it. When the trio approached the quartet, the woman, Claude, would have thrown herself at Shields had the two guards not been with him. He took a nice cautious step behind them and smiled to his pilots, who were trying not to giggle. "Ms. Trillo, welcome aboard the _Sunrider_. I hope we can accommodate you until we drop you off where you need." She mumbled something under her breath, something about shining armor, looking positively enamored by Shields. "Oh… Y-you're cuter in person." Shields, ignoring the comments, continued on. "Can you tell us why you were in this region of space?"

"I was just delivering some, hmm, medical supplies to Tautenia when those nasty pirates got me. It looks like I'm in your debt, Captain." She extended the final word a bit too long for comfort. "A freighter pilot and a Ryder pilot? Anything else we might want to know?"

"Well, I am a doctor!"

"Congrats, I bet Tautenia could use a good doctor. We can drop you off and split ways here."

"Oh no no no! I can't possibly leave without repaying my debt! Not to mention, I'd hate to leave such a total hottie behind…" While she nearly screamed her first statements, the latter was only heard but Marine suit microphones. "Say, you wouldn't happen to need a doctor on board this ship, would you?" The nurse behind him scoffed. "And where did you get your degree, Mercenary?"

"I got it off Ryuvia! Before it was suspended…" Shields hopped on that in an instant. "In that case, there is not a single opening in the medical department. I'd call it a shame but we Cerans pride ourselves on not having licenses suspended." Claude recoiled at him, her hair falling over her face, which Shields ignored. "Nunez, get our guest here to the medical bay and ensure she's healthy." He turned to depart, the marines joining in the turn.

"Wait, Captain! I'm a great pilot!" He stopped. "And this hangar is really lonely… I could be another pilot!" Shields failed to turn immediately as she expected, instead walking away. "Get me a CV and we'll consider it Ms. Trillo! I haven't seen any action worth of hire." With that, the trio departed. Claude was nearly dragged by Nunez to the Medical bay, leaving Icari, Chigara, and Asaga alone in their section of the hangar.

Icari turned back to her new friends, cocking her head to the side. "Wait, did he make you two submit resumes to join his crew?" Asaga was the first to answer, shaking her head, just as confused. "No, we just showed up and he let us on board… I don't think he likes Claude…"

"Well, no shit Asaga. How did you two get on board anyways?" Chigara answered her. "Well, Asaga saved them from pirates and I repaired their ship… I think we did enough…"

"And I took off on my own after being interrogated… I'm not sure what Shields' problem is with her…"

* * *

Shields was issuing commands before he'd even reached the dais, ready to get underway to the Ryuvian mission. "Helm, one fourth speed put us near Tautenia. Alternate which engine fires, give us a nice ghost ship look. Stop when they ping us for identification. Mcclain, ready point defense batteries in case they try something funny." The _Sunrider_ drifted towards the planet, alternating which of its rear five engines fired. It was energy inefficient, but it gave a more menacing appearance of a ship once dead. His voice modulator was active the moment the Tautenian Defense Commander contacted him. _"U-unifident-tified Ship… p-please respond."_

"We seek… knowledge…" On the Tautenian ship, built in atmosphere and literally rocketed into space, the Commandant tried his best to control his voice again. _"What… what do you require, ghost of these seas?"_

"Your… data banks. We will… find them."

" _No no no please! We'll give anything you need, please just don't attack!"_ Seconds later, several unsecured entry points to the Tautenian networks opened, and Pfeiffer sent digital tendrils to scan them for what Shields required. A minute passed, the _Sunrider_ sitting perfectly still before the miniscule fleet, point defense guns bigger than anything they possessed. Pfeiffer gave a thumbs up once a green icon appeared on his screen, and Shields nodded. "We now… have it. Tautenia will be… safe." He closed the line to the locals, and immediately directed the _Sunrider_ towards what the locals referred to as the 'Mnemosyne Abyss'.

Without proper charting and an assumption of safe passage, the _Sunrider_ was forced to crawl towards the Mnemosyne Abyss from Tautenia. The day long journey was accompanied by extra drilling and Ryder maneuvers, including an attempted revival of the stern Saviors. While unable to traverse as well as the forward mounted pair, they could engage any hostiles that the primary weaponry of the _Sunrider_ couldn't. The most strange part of this all, including the increased usage of the Ghost voice, was Shields' insistence to not tell anyone why he was ordering said drills, as well as his short hour and a half long break from the bridge immediately after speaking with the Tautenians.

When the _Sunrider_ arrived at a great battleground of ancient vessels, Shields finally explained himself. "Commander Crescentia, do you know how the Ryuvians solved their legacy issue?"

"Legacy issue, sir?"

"Yes, their Legacy issue. Like any bloodline, there were pretenders to their throne. So, many millennia ago, the Ryuvians created a device that could determine if someone was of Royal descent or not. That device has long since been lost."

"And we're here to find it? Amongst all these wrecks?"

"Exactly. Rumor on the street says the Princess of Ryuvia is missing, and their king, Jaylor, has tasked us to find it. It'll give us great influence on Ryuvia if we do this, so I hope you understand that I couldn't let slip what we were doing. I hope you remember our discussion earlier?"

"Of course Captain. So, how will we find it?" His answer came in a nonverbal manner - simply pointing to the largest of all the vessels in the graveyard. "It's called a Sharr' Lac. Jaylor tells me it used to be called Yorum'Grander when it was first commissioned, that's how old it is. Massive destructive power, we are not to active it under any circumstance." He highlighted a region around it. "Notice the lack of ships present here? Completely and 100 percent obliterated by the Sharr' Lac." Pfeiffer raised a hand, doing his best not to interrupt. "Pfeiffer, you have something?"

"Yes sir, scanners are dating those ships at two thousand plus years old, and have confirmed markings of the Ryuvian Royal Guard. Logs note them having escorted the Princess during time of civil war."

"I'm surprised we have such accurate records of that time, Pfeiffer."

"Indeed sir." Ava shook her head. "Captain, I'm not sure this is a graveyard. I think it's just a dumping ground. There's no way a fleet could have this many vessels."

"You forget this is a Ryuvian graveyard, Ms. Crescentia. Pfeiffer, get me a detailed scan of the nearest vessel. Deploy drones, give me a full view of it." Several small, quarter meter wide spheres shot off from a sensor suite on the _Sunrider_ , and started to orbit a Ryuvian cruiser nearby. "They're picking up organic material inside Captain. Definitely casualties in there. Vacuum kept them nice and cool all this time." Ava nodded in defeat.

Shields was on the PA almost immediately. "Marines, ready for detail. Aguirre, gather squad leaders and meet in the CIC. Pilots, Ryder and shuttle, make last minute flight checks and be ready to depart. We're entering the Sharr' Lac."


	8. Angels are Calling Your Name

_A/N: There's a Red Alert reference here, somewhere..._

* * *

The four Ryders stood guard near a wall of the Sharr' Lac as the shuttles of the _Sunrider_ landed on its surface. A platoon of Ceran boarders took a single step from their holds before activating the magnetic clamps on their boots, doing a quick visual scan near them for hostiles. They were prepared for another slave base, they hoped they were. Two specialists were burning a hole in the ancient metal, near what the _Sunrider_ determined was a hallway straight to an atrium of some kind - the best bet for finding a command center.

"Sunrider, Blackbird 1-1. We've touched down on the Sharr' Lac, how copy? Over."

" _Blackbird 1-1, Sunrider, we read you five by five. Wait one. Blackbird 1-1 be advised, helmet camera is getting some static, get someone to check that. Over."_ Aguirre slammed his airtight gauntlet against the miniature camera near his temple. _"That's got it Blackbird 1-1. Feed's coming in nice and clear. Be advised, shuttles are returning to the_ Sunrider _. Can't risk them getting downed by debris."_ The Specialists completed their operation, and secured magnetic clamps to the burned hole to the shuttles. The pilots slowly pulled it free from its produced hold, then detached and headed straight for the _Sunrider_. The Cerans left behind carefully set themselves upon the interior.

They slowly stepped on metal not touched in a thousand years, armor optimized for quiet operations. Their leg armor made adjustments to their gait, forcing them to step from ball to toe instead of slamming down each step. Each had a weapon drawn, from the compact bullpup submachine gun to the massive attached frame of the RCW Minigun. "Keep tight fellas, this thing hasn't been touched in a few thousand years and there ain't no way to know if it's all quiet."

"Hey Aguirre, what exactly are we looking for here?"

"A nice big Ryuvian bank account, Gould, with plenty of shore leave to go around." Their suits kept audio from exiting or entering without user consent, meaning to an outside observer, the forty odd soldiers were only sneaking forward in the ancient vessel, not even a single beam of light or piece of sound emitted from them. Their optical displays were operating solely on night vision. After a minute of careful walking, Aguirre called in. "Sunrider, Blackbird 1-1, there's nothing here. Over."

" _Blackbird 1-1, Sunrider Actual. Define nothing, marine. Over."_

"As in there's nothing here, Captain. Nothing on passive or active sonar, and IR puts nothing hotter than the metal anywhere nearby. Are you sure we're near the atrium? Over."

" _We'll do another check, Blackbird. For now, keep on route. Sunrider, out."_ The marines continued to walk the Sharr' Lac, occasionally pausing to inspect some minor grit or difference in the sleek metal. Gould was the first to stop, close enough to a doorway to cause it to open. The marines immediately stopped and turned towards the sudden sound, Gould diving out of the way just in case. Aguirre tapped two of his subordinates and pointed inside the room, following after them. Slowly, the Marines either entered the room or stood on watch outside it. "Sunrider Actual, Blackbird 1-1. We've found a barracks. I think. Over."

" _You think? We're going to need more information Blackbird 1-1. Over"_

"Captain, there's at least forty bunks here, maybe more."

" _Hey Aguirre, there's at least a dozen of these doors out here in the hallway, good chance this ain't the only barracks."_

"Catch that Sunrider? Over."

" _We got it Blackbird. It's been 2000 years, there's a good chance that no one is still inside there now. You're still some four hundred meters to the atrium, suggest you keep moving. Sunrider out."_

Aguirre motioned for the unit to leave the barracks and return on the path to the atrium, quickening the pace to account just in case. One of his specialists pushed a reading to his Heads up Display. "Hey Chief, check this out. There's residual energy dissipation coming from that atrium area. Doubt the _Sunrider_ caught it."

"And in Ceran, that means?"

"It means that something in there has had power for the last 2,000 years and it's still kicking."

"Weapons platform?"

"I dunno Chief, could be anything, this is Lost Tech we're talking about."

"Alright, fine. Everyone, we've got something in there, could be anything. The rule is shoot first and be yelled at later." After sniggering on the comm, he pinged the _Sunrider_. "Sunrider, Blackbird 1-1, we're picking up… energy dissipation, something, coming from the atrium. Might be something important."

" _Copy that Blackbird, the Ryders are currently navigating for secondary entrance now. Sunrider out."_

The Cerans arrived at a massive doorway, easily a Ryder in height, decorated in ornate symbols and pictures that meant nothing to them. Instead of examining it, they gathered on the side and planted explosives near the middle. Aguirre, as commander, was first to try the door, giving it a gentle push forward. When he was met with no resistance, he nodded to each team on the sides of the door, and then rammed himself into it. Shoulder pad met ancient metal and offered no resistance, letting the forty marines enter the atrium.

Inside was not a grand command center or even the remains of Ryuvians. It was a mass of dangling wires and exposed circuitry, nearly frozen. The room was bathed in a turquoise glow coming from the dead center of the room - a massive cylinder from which all wires flowed. The marines stared in disbelief, one even knocking his helmet twice to ensure the feed was correct. A lone woman was within the tube of unknown liquid, suspended for the last two thousand years. "Uh… Uh, Sunrider… are you guys getting this?"

" _Yes, yes Blackbird we've got this recorded. Can you tell if she's alive?"_

"We'll check… Morrison, get up there and see if she's still kicking!"

"Nah Chief, I saw this holo, I ain't making it back to the _Sunrider_ if I go up there."

"Yeah, that's because I'm going to personally space you before we get back if you don't, now tap that damn glass!" He sighed, and shook his head, then stepped forward. The moment his boot crossed into the central circle, the entire atrium light up in red light, warning klaxons blaring impossibly loud.

 **Ga'rk! Sharn-la ree seath ta!**

" _Marines, that ship is powering up, you need to get the hell out of there now!"_ Without additional prompting, the Marines disengaged the stealth mode of their suits and sprinted down the hallway to their exit. Whether or not the shuttles were there was irrelevant to them, instead, all that mattered was getting the hell out of there. One of them cried out as they fell, grabbed by something behind them and dragged back into the atrium. Aguirre checked the life status of his men and immediately flipped it off. Morrison was right - he wasn't going to make it back to the _Sunrider_. Aguirre activated his comm unit, doing his best not the peak the mic as he yelled. "Sunrider Actual, we're almost to the evac point, where's the pickup?"

" _Petty Officer, there's too many of them out here to send the shuttles! Recommend you find somewhere safe to defend!"_

"Copy that! We'll be at the entrance hole! Don't keep us waiting Captain!" Without waiting for a response, he ended the line and pulled up the squad comm. "Boys listen up! We're almost to our entry hole and there's nothing waiting to pick us up!" The farthest of the Marines reached the entry, quickly checking outside for anything that might be hostile, then turned back to face the hallway, weapons drawn. The rest of the marines arrived shortly thereafter, some taking a knee in front while others stood behind them, weapons drawn.

"Chief, contact at the end of the hallway! Closing fast!"

"Is it Morrison?"

"Negative, it's too fast and it's too small!" Aguirre tensed up at that, as did a few others - Morrison was definitely dead, and importantly, whatever killed him was coming their way. "500 meters, sir!"

One of the Marines, Agnerson, started up his backpack-supplied minigun's motor, the barrels spinning up until they appeared as a single circle. Some manually checked their magazines, others kept aiming down range. "400 meters! Additional contacts, at least ten of 'em!" Seconds ticked by on the mission clock. "300 meters!" Aguirre could feel his forehead start to sweat. "200 meters!"

"This is it Marines! Time to show 'em what a Ceran can do!" A halfhearted oorah was all that was returned before they arrived. A pack of them at the end of the hallway finally appeared, nearly human. Nearly. Their gait was identical to one another, and off, but more importantly, their binaric cries were a dead giveaway. Ancient Ryuvian Combat Robots. Agnerson was the first to respond, letting loose with eight barrels of pure unfettered anger and hatred that dented the armor of the robots. After he fired, the rest of the Cerans followed in suit, throwing down enough metal to make the graveyard outside jealous. The robots, even with armor being scratched and dented, continued into the hail of fire, reaching the outermost line of Cerans. Immediately, their numbers started to fall, one marine impaled on the drill ending of a robot, while another was thrown into the opposite wall through pure force.

A single marine was lucky, using his combat knife to cut at the joint of an arm about to end his life, momentarily putting the robot in loop as its combat wetware adjusted. He used that opportunity to stab the robot in their version of a neck, severing the connection between the sensory input and central processor. "Chief, you gotta put 'em in a loop! They shut down and you can go for a neck shot!" Meanwhile, Agnerson was still throwing a torrent of metal at a robot, wearing its armor down until a stray round managed to pierce and break apart inside, destroying several key connections and processors, shutting the machine down. He immediately switched targets to another of the robots that was pulling away from an armless Marine, intent on getting revenge. Aguirre was at the back of the pack, firing his battle rifle at robots, trying to distract them from the fallen marines that were scattered about.

The steady sound of Agnerson's minigun cut out, replaced by the mechanical whine of an overheated motor. In front of him lay three Ryuvian Combat Platforms, neatly cut into small pieces by a monsoon of bullets. It was becoming more and more clear that the Marines would appear victorious - a platform would launch itself at one marine, only to be blast from the air by the rifles of two others, while a quartet of Marines managed to distract a robot for long enough so that a fifth could deposit an explosive in its shoulder. With only three left in their number, the Robots jumped away from their victims, bounding back down the corridor, their inhuman knees bending to the point of touching the thigh to shin. It was only when the minigun's motor finally died did Aguirre have the chance to examine the skirmish.

Seven robots lay destroyed to some degree around the Marines, while almost half again in marines were either slumped in their suits, still clamped to the ground, or floating aimlessly in void space, nothing to stop them. "Hey, Chief?" Gould was farthest from the would-be extraction point, kneeling next to one of her fallen comrades. He considered asking if more contacts were incoming, but a quick glance at his HUD said otherwise. "What's up Gould?"

"You think we're gonna make it out of here?" His answer didn't come. At least not as quick as he wanted. He walked towards the hole, double checking his magnetic clamps to ensure he wouldn't fall out into the void like before, and watched as the _Sunrider_ took several hits from ships he couldn't see, and nothing was coming towards the Sharr' Lac from what he could tell. He stared into the void for just a bit longer before replying. "Not for a while, Gould. Not for a while."

* * *

"Helm, behind that cruiser, now! Mcclain, reorient cannon, 160 degrees, elevation 30! Fire Hell Darts the moment we're clear. Cycle Trinities, dump all non-essential power generation into their capacitors, I want to see some purple beams, you get me?" Mcclain's affirmation came only milliseconds before an impact shook the _Sunrider_ , several sections on his display flashing red. Ava was issuing commands across the _Sunrider_ to keep her from falling to chaos, a foil to Shields keeping their ship from falling to fire. Pfeiffer was working as hard as he could to direct the Ryders in space, trying to clear a path for shuttles to extract the Marines from the Sharr' Lac. It was made difficult by the Ryuvian Ryder and its two clones, constantly taking potshots at the Ceran Auxiliaries. Meanwhile, Shields was focused on the now three Cruisers that kept him from moving close to the Sharr' Lac, forcing him to stick to the cover that was fallen ships from millennia passed.

"Second cruiser down sir, Saviors tore clear through her superstructure and breached engines! Guess they didn't build 'em safe back then!"

"Shut it Pfeiffer, confirms only. Mcclain, where are my Trinities?" Like he was, his response was the firing of the Trinities batteries at the ghostly Ryders. His instruction for purple beams meant highest energy output - of course, it wasn't possible to see Trinities fire, only know their energy was dispersed. One of the Ryders was struck, disappearing in the void, hopefully gone. "Captain, a cruiser's right behind us!"

"Mcclain, show them the _Sunrider_ 's got eyes in the back of her head!" Immediately, the stern Saviors fired at the ancient Ryuvian vessel, putting a pair of holes right in its bow, crumpling the cannons it faced the _Sunrider_ with. Without any forward weaponry, the ship made to turn, only making itself that much more of a target. A hell dart streaked towards it, burrowing directly beneath its bridge and blowing up, breaking away the control from the vessel. "Another kill Captain! Two Cruisers and two Ryders left."

"Pilots, report!"

Icari was, surprisingly, the first to respond. _"Can't move Captain! They've got us pinned down and we can't do anything with getting a shot to the body!"_

"Is there any way you could get closer to the Sharr' Lac?"

" _Negative Captain! We move from these dead ships and we're joining them!"_ Claude looked down for a second before tapping something. _"Uh, Captain… I have a thingie that might work."_

Shields sighed at her statement, finding Claude more and more useless in his fleet as time went by. "What is this 'thingie' you've got, Claude?"

" _It's a gun."_ Pfeiffer sniggered, listening in to take command once Shield was done. _"It can push and pull things that are far away… I could maybe pull one of them closer to us and we could shoot it a bunch when it's disoriented."_

Pfeiffer stopped his muted laughter almost immediately, and he saw Icari grin. "Claude, we're going to have a very thorough talk after this, but yes, use the thingie." She laughed and nodded before slowly peaking her Ryder's arm out from cover, a weird four pronged appendage at the end. One of the hostile Ryders took a shot, which thankfully missed at this range. She pointed towards the one that shot her, and immediately it sped towards the quartet of Ryders. Unable to immediately grasp what happened, the Ryder fired maneuvering thrusters in a vain attempt to regain control before being destroyed. Too late, as the thin and yellow form of the _Phoenix_ appeared almost immediately after it stopped, slicing it in two. Behind her fired the _Black Jack_ , each shot hitting the ship that the final third Ryder was using for cover. Now that the tables were turned, the four slowly edged their way to the hostile, sticking to wrecks to keep from being shot again.

Meanwhile, the _Sunrider_ fired another barrage of Saviors, this time breaching the shields of the third Cruiser and blowing up an ammo storage facility - or possibly the capacitors for central processing. Either way, the ship began to crack from the inside as explosions rocked the inside. The fourth Cruiser attempted to turn from the _Sunrider_ towards his Ryders, and Shields refused to let that happen. A full barrage from the bow facing weaponry of the _Sunrider_ ended any chance of an emergency rescue by the ancient craft, detonating her engines and propelling it right into another larger wreck. The combined wreck careened into the Sharr' Lac, managing to damage it enough to destroy the emitter for the final hologram.

Without further hostiles, the Ryders dashed from cover and headed straight for the Sharr' Lac, as did the shuttles of the _Sunrider_ , intent on rescuing the stranded marines. Pfeiffer was not one to make things easy, especially with his shakenly voiced announcement. "Uh… Captain, there's one last signature out there…"

"Define signature, Pfeiffer."

"Exact copy of those Ryders, but there's no energy departing the Sharr' Lac. It's the real deal." A video feed pushed itself to Kayto's displays. The Ryder, the bone white angel of a mech was hefting what appeared to be a standard yet old kinetic cannon, aimed directly at one of the shuttles. A series of tubes cycled around it, one entering the cannon, its purpose obvious. However, before the shuttles could be informed their incoming doom, Asaga cried out.

" _Oh no you don't!"_ Whatever the Ryder loaded fired at the shuttles, shot across the scars at half again the speed of light, crossing the distance in 90 milliseconds. But it was stopped short of the shuttle as Asaga blew it away with a single laser pulse. The resulting explosion shook the shuttle, but failed to incapacitate it. Icari was the first to comment on the events. "B-b-bullshit! That was going over the speed of light! There's no way Asaga just blew it up!"

The image of a woman - a girl really - showed in front of the rest of the pilot's faces, but it was not Shields she would speak to. _"There is only one capable of that… I yield. The battle is yours."_ The Ryder flew far from the wrecks, without being chased, vanishing into the distance. The shuttles flew from the hangar and touched down on the surface of the Sharr' Lac, four of the medical staff disgorging in light EVA gear to get the wounded marines on board and in care. Shields watched them leave from the comfort of his command chair, a high magnification view of the wounded, dead, and dying on only his screen. The few that managed to escape from the skirmish unharmed carried fallen comrades or even the corpses of the robots they slayed, leaving the Sharr' Lac as fast as they could with the most they could take.

" _Captain. We've got them all; twenty eight marines are coming back alive."_ Nine dead, unacceptable to Shields. "Understood Arceni, get our boys back here as soon as you can. Pilots, on the _Sunrider_ , we're going to detail salvage ops to find what we're looking for." No opposition came from the pilots, Claude more than happy to return to her unrequited love while Icari looked angrier than ever. The Ryders formed up around the shuttles, Chigara generating a small shield field for the duration of the ride, although it looked like it was for show more than anything else.

Touchdown in the _Sunrider_ went as expected for lightly damaged Ryders and shuttles - mechanics did post flight checks, logged scratches and bruises, and then got to work repairing them. Chigara convinced them to bring the robots to her study area in engineering, although even her appreciation amongst the mechanically inclined crew was being pushed with the request. More nonessential staff were waiting to help move the Marines, however, those that were on duty in the Hangar that knew what happened. It wasn't a proud day for the Cerans, as they hobbled and lifted one another towards the medical bay.

On the bridge, things were calmer. "Ava, give me a rundown of damage. Mcclain, keep trinities charged in case we get more visitors. Pfeiffer, active scanning, anything left here is definitely dead."

"Captain, in short, we got lucky again. One of the stern Saviors took a hit and is non-operational until we go into dry dock, and we blew out a couple of trinity capacitors during our full barrage. There's significant damage to the primary storage compartments as well, but Deck is reporting no major casualties outside of bruising. Considering we just fought off ancient Ryuvian ships, I'd say we're lucky to still be talking."

"Of course we are Commander, we are very lucky indeed. Now, if only we were lucky enough to have marine reserves on board for boarding actions again."

Pfeiffer, shaky voice and all, spoke. "Captain, there's uh, there's energy readings in the graveyard. And the Sharr' Lac is… it's charging up Captain."

"Confirmation from other sensor suites?"

"You betcha. Uh, sir." His tactical display lit up with a pair of red Ryuvian silhouettes, then another pair, then a dozen, then two dozen, the entire graveyard was coming to life. "We're not in any position to fight back efficiently now. Helm, emergency warp, get us out of here now!" A strong light appeared inside the Sharr' Lac, growing more intense as seconds ticked by. Calculations ran, trying to orient the _Sunrider_ so she wouldn't impact any debris on the way out. Only when the light was nearly blinding did a proper angle be found and the _Sunrider_ threw itself into dark void space, safe from the impending explosion.

* * *

The _Sunrider_ reappeared in space only moments later, a vast ocean of space between it and the now exploded Sharr' Lac. "Captain, preliminary calculations showed that vessel going supernova. As close as a manmade vessel can be, sir. It looks like the entire graveyard is gone."

"Understood Pfeiffer, get me a full report when the Central Core is done processing." He keyed on the PA system. "All hands, secure from Battle Stations. Return to normal duties. Department heads, muster with Captain at the top of the hour." A beat. "Current time is nineteen fifteen." The red lighting across the ship cut back to normal and the crew returned to their previous activities. "Captain, I've got a lock on an incoming vessel."

"Have we Ryuvian chasers, Mr. Pfeiffer?"

"Positive this one is, Sir. It's the Ryder that nearly blew up our shuttles. Complete match, down to the ammunition around the rifle. Wait one. Visuals show the rifle down… I think they're trying to peacefully approach."

"Then emergency launch our Ryders. Keep from battle stations, as much as I'd want them." The Ryder continued to approach the _Sunrider_ without weapons raised, eventually met with the _Sunrider_ 's complement some distance away from the mother ship. The angel stopped before collision, directly connecting to the _Sunrider_ 's Ryder communications channel. _"Which of you was it?"_

Claude instinctively took cover behind the other three at the sound of the woman's voice, while Asaga called back. "We didn't do anything, you attacked us!"

" _Which of you triggered the fleet?"_

"We didn't do anything!"

" _I see. You are the leader?"_ Icari scoffed. "Not a chance she is, our captain's on his ship. You're not getting to him."

" _I will speak with him then."_ Asaga's laser cannons pulled upwards and pointed at the angel of a Ryder, while Icari threw toggled the heat sinks on her Ryder to flared open and shut, readying for combat. "Like Icari said, you're not."

" _It is you then. I will explain only to your Captain."_ Shields' face appeared on the Ryder pilots' screens. _"Chigara, disable her Ryder and have Asaga tow her in. Icari, make sure she doesn't do anything funny. I'll be in the hangar when you arrive."_

With a majority of his security team either incapacitated in the medical bay or rather peeved by their recent deployment, Shields thought it best not to include them in his greeting of the formerly hostile pilot. Instead, Ava was by his side, going over a set of notes she'd written up on the mission. The hangar system announced the arrival of five Ryders and warned those still inside to stay clear of the docking systems, accompanied by flashing red and yellow lights along the Ryder docking path. A minute later, the first of the Auxiliaries appeared, the _Phoenix_ , which lined up for entry into the hangar from one entrance while the _Bianca_ did the same for the other. The Ryders passed through the air barrier and were immediately grabbed by the _Sunrider_ , sent straight into their docking bays - 03 and 04 respectively. Afterwards came the _Liberty_ , occupying the 02 bay. By the time the _Black Jack_ arrived with her cargo, Icari and Claude had both exited their Ryders and ran to Shields. Chigara was slower, actually taking the time to perform a post-flight check with the mechanics.

The _Black Jack_ set down in the hangar as delicate as a multi-ton, over 10 meter tall mech could, almost slamming the ghostly white Ryuvian Ryder down on the deck at the same time. Emergency response teams were there in a heartbeat, checking the Ryder over for major damage or indications of additional injury. The _Black Jack_ was grabbed by the docking system, but dug its mechanical heels into the deck, weapons pointed directly at the fallen Ryder. Whoever was working the system stopped it from trying to drag her further away.

Once the action subsided, the Ryuvian Ryder's hatch popped open, not unlike the other Ryders nearby, and from within emergency a woman who had barely passed her educational years. With great grace, she leaped from the Ryder and onto the hangar floor, electing to land on her feet rather than some contrived hero pose with one fist on the floor. The _Black Jack_ tracked her movements, Asaga not completely realizing firing her weapon would most likely kill everyone else but her. She walked with a gait that betrayed her past - one with little planetary gravity and much semi-normal gravity of space travelers. She spread longer than would be comfortable for a Ceran, and her feet daintily touched the floor rather than both the balls of her feet and heel hitting the ground at the same time. By the time she reached the _Sunrider_ 's crew, Ava had already written down a half a page on her.

By comparison, the Cerans and their auxiliaries were much less decent. Icari was resting her weight on one foot while Claude was staring at the back of Shields' head. Ava was standing at near attention, the only issue being the holopad in her hands rather than stowed away. Shields, as Captain, had the right of standing as he pleased without recourse - at attention as well, legs tucked together forming a half right angle at his feet, while his hands were folded behind his back.

Sola eyed each of the four in front of her, before staring directly at Kayto. "You are their Captain?"

"I am Captain Shields of the CSF _Sunrider_. You would be?"

"Princess Sola vi Ryuvia." Ava and Shields each looked at one another at the word Princess, before Ava immediately drew up some other notes on her holopad. She flashed them to Shields. "Ah, you would be the missing Princess of Ryuvia then?" For the first time in what seemed like such a long time, Chigara was the one to interrupt. Until that point she had been walking out of vision towards the group, but upon hearing the identity of the near killer, she ran towards them. "Captain! Sola vi Ryuvia's been dead for two thousand years! This can't be her!"

Sola closed her eyes for a moment, humming something to herself before returning to her 'normal' state. "My Ryder's chronometer tells me it has been some thousand years since I was last awake. Tell me, how does my father's empire fare?"

"It doesn't. Why did you attack us, Miss Ryuvia?" Once more, her eyes closed and she was stuck in thought. "Your men entered the Sharr' Lac and drove straight to me. The onboard AI informed me of such and acted in my defense, at least until I could be awoken." The statement of joy that no Marines were there to hear that went, thankfully, unspoken. "I assumed they were more of the Fallen coming to battle. I acted as I should have."

"So then that graveyard… Fallen ships? You destroyed them?"

"The Sharr' Lac did. The Fallen, did they succeed?" He turned to Ava, who shook her head. "We're not sure - much has been lost in the last two thousand years. We can put you in contact with the Ryuvian Royal Family and get you the information you need." She grimaced at the mention of the Royal Family. "Not needed, Captain."

"If you'd rather not, that's your wish. Now, we need to know - do you have the crown jewel?" She cocked her head. "Crown jewel? Red thing? Used to tell if a person is a member of the Royal Family or not?" The realization was clear on her face. "Yes, of course, the Talbur. It is in my Ryder. Have you need of it?"

"You're willing to hand it over?" She nodded. "You have proven yourself a worthy member of the Family; it would be yours to demand." Claude stifled a giggle at the inference of information not there. Shields, playing safe over sorry, decided not to tell her he wasn't Royalty. "Yes, please." He turned towards the _Black Jack_ and toggled his communicator. "Asaga, she's clear. Let her back to her Ryder and get down here already." The _Black Jack_ finally lowered weapons, and soon after the docking system reinitiated and brought it into the 01 bay. Asaga had jumped out and run to the meeting spot by the time Sola had the Talbur freed.

A small purple light tailed Sola as she returned to the group, it slowly growing brighter with each step. "This is the Talbur. It glows in presence of the Royal Family, and it is the first I have seen it glow so bright." She bowed her head. "You, Captain Shields, must be son of the King." He hid the surprise of being an actual member of the Royal Family, knowing she had more to say. Before she could continue, the warning lights flared in the Hangar, unlike the bridge where it turned to complete red. Harker's voice sounded on the PA. "All crew to battle stations - PACT signatures detected. I repeat, all crew to battle stations." The Technicians departed the Ryders at the announcement at were already gathered together for roll by the time the Pilots made it to their Ryders. Even the newcomer, Sola, understood what needed to be done. Ava and Kayto rushed to the elevator, Captain's privilege giving him priority access to it.

Pfeiffer yelled to Shields the moment he arrived on the Bridge, calling over the officers issuing orders of their own. "Captain, we've got a fleet of PACT Vessels right in front of us, I guess the explosion tipped them off! Counting at least forty vessels matching known cruiser profiles and four possible battleships in the center of the fleet!" He turned in his chair once Shields was on the dais and sitting. "Captain I'm not sure even we can take them on." Shields' answer never came, as the holographic form of the portly gentleman from before appeared, though a quick check confirmed that he could not see Kayto in return. The symbol for active voice modulation appeared on one of his displays. "Whether you're a ghost ship or not, I, Veniczar Cullen will rid you from this sector! I shall prove myself to Arcadius! A curse be on you and your foul ship!"

"So… fire on us." The PACT leader shook his head. "You have the Crown Jewel. Deliver it by shuttle to my vessel, or we will destroy you. You're not worth my cannon."

"Commander… you are… mistaken. We survive the greatest of… Lost Ryuvian battles. You fail to scare us." He cut the channel and informed Pfeiffer to block their communications. Cullen smiled on his ship, happy the _Sunrider_ was taking the hard way out. He gave order to the fleet to fire on them, and they did - happily. Tired of not fighting back, of having supply lines cut or pillaged, the PACT armsmen were happy to finally take the fight to the Ghost Ship. A complete barrage launched from the fleet, ranging from small scale corvette lasers to the massive cannon of the battleships. Thanks to her smaller size, the _Sunrider_ managed to avoid some of it. Some.

Entire sections burned away from the _Sunrider_ , sensor suites overloaded trying to track all incoming and reference it across other suites. The Trinities and point defense managed to blow up some of the smaller projectiles, even intercepted a battleship's shell, but soon the Trinities lost charge and simply moved around at each projectile, while the point defense were incapable of stopping lasers or kinetic fire. The space between the Hangar and the Saviors took a direct hit, making the latter unable to swivel. Shields knew what was happening and turned to Ava, giving a single nod before looking back to his bridge crew. Most had stopped giving orders by this point, instead looking towards their Captain. "It was… It was a good run. Of that I am certain." Pfeiffer offered a smile while Mcclain, a thumbs up. He was about to give a short death speech when the _Black Jack_ flew from the hangar.

" _Stop! I'm the one you're looking for! I am Princess Asaga di Ryuvia! Stop your attack, Cullen, stop it now!"_ Shields was taken aback by this, and ordered Pfeiffer to reopen comms to listen in. _"Men, hold fire and take her in! Looks like we don't need the jewel after all."_ A quartet of the Elite PACT Ryders disgorged from a Battleship, taking their sweet time to get to the _Black Jack_. _"Captain… I'm sorry I lied. But it's… It's better this way."_ Her screen winked out as her Ryder was disabled and carried off like a dead body to the PACT Fleet. "Now we head to Ryuvia Prime for the wedding! Make haste, we have less than a week now! What do you mean the communicator is still acti-"

There was silence on the bridge for a second before Shields stood. He calmly walked to the front of the dais, leaning on the railing. "It was a good run, but we've got a better one to go on now. Helm, get us to Chigara's repair station immediately. Everyone else, get a full report of damages to your sector as soon as possible, forward them to myself, Pfeiffer, and Chief Engineer Brown. Pfeiffer, get our repair drones active now, get them working inside anywhere too dangerous for the crew. And someone inform Ms. Brooks we're going to need a lot of supplies." From behind him, Ava stood. "Captain? Are you sure about this?"

"We've got a wedding to crash Ava, and I'm not going to play nice this time."


	9. Retrofitting and Upgrades

" _Fontana, tell us more of this Ghost Ship."_

"Of course my Lord." The Dark haired Veniczar checked his holopad to refresh himself, happy the leader of PACT could not see him do so. "The ship was first reported several weeks ago when it pillaged a convoy headed for a recently... liberated neutral world. There was only a single survivor. The ship is almost completely white, sports massive cannon and laser batteries beyond our capabilities. Despite outclassing our cruisers, it can field Ryders, though we've see it deploy no more than two per battle."

" _And the reason it's managing to scare the men and women that voluntarily join us in the Neutral Rim?"_

"Because it's managed to avoid nearly all of our retribution fleets until this point. It has stopped our campaign for over a week within a single hour and we gave it no fire in return. It demoralized the Neutral Rim troops who believed it to be the spirit of their homeworlds fighting back. With each fleet it annihilates, we lose experienced Ryder Pilots and merchant marines. Some reports are saying it truly can take full barrages from laser and kinetic weaponry without flinching."

Arcadius cared not for the details. _"Until this point, Fontana?"_ He smiled. "Yes. Cullen has informed me his fleet has managed to intercept and heavily damage the Ghost while securing the Princess of Ryuvia. I trust that he has incapacitated it fully."

" _We do, Fontana. Onto greater news - we have taken command of the fleets around Ryuvia to, ah, 'impress' the princess. Once your fleet arrives the entire ceremony will begin. Prepare for the arrival at that time."_

"I understand, my lord." Arcadius' form winked out of existence, but whether it was a hologram or one of his clever deceptions briefly crossed Fontana's mind. He immediately departed from the secured communications room, intent on finding Cullen and informing him. A quick check with the onboard computer revealed him in proximity to the Princess, currently locked away in what could best be described as the highest room in the tallest PACT tower. "...But I'm sure a small, ah, taste, would be fine…"

"You're disgusting, P-porkchops." Fontana smirked, knowing he had the perfect opportunity to intervene. Removing emotion from his face, he entered the Princess' room. "I see you're entertaining our guest, Cullen."

Cullen slowly creeped away from Asaga, who looked beyond relieved that someone interrupted him. "Of course, Fontana, of course. Now, what is it you want?"

"We are departing to Ryuvia after this resupply. Arcadius himself has taken command of the fleets and we will be handing over control to him once the wedding is complete. You would do well to keep your hands of that which is not yours." He faked shock. "I did no such thing, boy!" He started for the door. "Get me the plans for the wedding security, I want them perfect! Damn child, I'll show him once I'm governor..." He didn't even realize Fontana failed to follow him, or that he was speaking aloud. Instead Fontana stayed with Asaga for just a moment longer. "Your highness, it is time for me to leave as well." She finally turned to look at him after wiping her eyes. "You're Veniczar Fontana, aren't you?"

"A pleasure, m'lady. I'm sure we'll see one another more often." With that, he departed, leaving Asaga alone in a cell with a window for a wall, starting into the void.

* * *

"Captain, without additional supplies the repairs are complete. All Savior batteries are operational and we salvaged enough to get most Trinities online, however, we're low on Savior munitions as well as missile pods."

Shields let out a short chuckle. "And this, Ava, is exactly why I called in for Ms. Brooks and her lovely smugglers." As if on cue, a flotilla of Mining Union ships appeared near Chigara's repair station. Shields smirked at his XO, then enabled the holographic communications requested by the lead vessel. _"CSF_ Sunrider _, this is the_ Red Cavalcade _flotilla_. _I was informed you needed repair supplies and munitions."_ The smuggler from before, Templaire, appeared near him. _"Hey ole' buddy! We got a lotta good stuff for'ya!"_

"Good to see you men. Coordinate with our dockmaster on repairs, we're going to be here for a while." The men nodded and cut out, and Shields took a quick peek outside his massive window, eying several technicians in EVA gear welding sheets of metal over the _Sunrider_. He turned back to Ava. "Sorry about that Commander, please, continue."

"We're low on supplies, repairs are slow without a lot of drones, and we're down a pilot and Ryder. Not to mention the nearly hundred wounded or dead after that PACT encounter. We're starting to run some of the crew ragged, Captain."

"We do have that Ryuvian girl."

"I don't think we should really count her, Captain."

"Ah, but I will. Continue, Ava. What of the situation at Ryuvia?" She sighed, knowing where this question was heading. "Alliance Intelligence reports about four PACT fleets orbiting the planet and an additional one patrolling the system proper. No objections from the Ryuvians which tells us they're either in on it or at gun point. The _Legion_ is definitely present, which means Asaga can't be too far off. Overall, there's about 600 ships between us and her, Captain."

"Only 600, you say?" He leaned back in his chair in thought, evaluating the suicidal mission in his head. Ava was having absolutely none of it. "Kayto, I've known and worked with you for at least five years, I know exactly what you're thinking, and it is a very, very bad idea. I'm going to go ahead and tell you, as a friend, not to consider it."

"Asaga is a Ceran Auxiliary and a member of the _Sunrider_. Ignoring all the regulations that say we cannot let her remain a captive, I cannot in good honor leave her behind."

"So, we're going to warp in system, destroy or disable 600 ships including the now biggest vessel in existence, just to save one woman?" As if ignoring her, Shields pinged Chigara's communicator. "Chigara, it's Shields. Tell me, how are the upgrades coming?"

" _Oh, uh, they're coming along Captain now that repairs are finishing up."_

"Upgrades, Captain? Has Ms. Brooks found us the original shield unit?" He shook his head and forwarded a packet to her PDA. "I ordered Chigara to not repair the _Sunrider_ or other Ryders but analyze that Ryuvian Ryder, the _Seraph_ , and the combat robots." Had she been her, Shields was sure Chigara would be smiling wide. "The robots were less useful - materials we're not fully aware of, weapons we can't fully yield, the usual Lost Technology stuff. But she managed to extract a great deal from the _Seraph_. Chigara, should I continue or would you like to take over?"

" _Well, I think you can keep going Captain."_ He waited a tick before continuing. "Of course. The _Seraph_ , Ava, turns out to be a specially made Ryder, for scouting and emergency action. Sola tells us she can warp to essentially any system and any location with a margin of error less than a few meters, less if the conditions allow. Chigara adapted it for the _Sunrider_ , though a bit less accurate"

Ava looked either bored or tired of this conversation, a hand on her hip and another covering half of her face. "So we can warp more accurately, this means what to us, Captain?"

"It means we can now, with ease, visit a wedding." Her brow furrowed. "Visit a wedding? The Wedding?" Shields was trying his damndest to not laugh. "Why, yes, The Wedding. The big one. It'll be in low orbit, in the Star Palace. Arcadius wouldn't do it any less flashy. No Ryders to contend with, few ships with weapons pointed inward… Well, we could simple warp in and steal Asaga away before Arcadius gets a chance to even look at her."

"Captain, I cannot in good conscience recommend this action. I want it on the record that I am against this plan entirely and believe we should do something else to destabilize PACT. There are several convoys in the area that can be-" He held up a hand to stop her. "I've already decided that it is the best plan of action, Commander Crescentia. By performing this operation, we show that both Ryuvia is not able to commit to PACT, that PACT is unable to use entire fleets to defend a single wedding, and that Arcadius is unable to get married. We destabilize PACT more than any invasion stalling could." She still looked on him without approval. "The Ghost Ship of the Neutral Rim appears over Ryuvia, almost like a true ghost, and that alone is enough to bring people to fighting against PACT. Exactly what we want from the neutral rim - the spirit of fighting."

"So you're willing to risk the _Sunrider_ in a single rescue mission that would either end in PACT being embarrassed or our complete destruction."

"Well, considering I did exactly that less than two days ago, yes Ava, that is exactly what I'm willing to risk."

"And once we have Asaga, our escape plan is…? Last I checked, the only ship recorded to warp from within the sphere of influence of a gravitational body didn't make any other trips."

"Remember what I said? No one gets left behind? Let no civilian be killed long as we can stop it? That goes double for our crew. Once we're there we'll figure out how to leave." One more of her nearly patented heavy sighs escaped from her lips and brought her first hand up to head. A second of tapping herself as a refresher. "Okay, okay. I'll… I'll relieve Harker on the Bridge..." She snapped a salute, waited for his in return, then calmly walked out of his quarters, not even looking at the posted guard.

Once his door was shut, Shields stood and walked down to the window behind his bead. Outside, he saw numerous automated drones operating across the _Sunrider_ , welding alongside technicians in EVA gear. More were being disgorged from small Mining Union shuttles with sheets of heavy metals. A number of shuttles were queued up near the Hangar, waiting to empty their holds of capacitors, shells, and miscellaneous supplies for the _Sunrider_. His communicator beeped. "Shields, go ahead."

" _Captain, it's Chigara. When y-you get a chance, I need to speak with you down here. Also, we, I mean Sola and I, got some of the robots working… They spent some time working their way into the battle net and know what happened to Asaga."_

"Wait, what? Are you telling me those robots are loose in Engineering?" He was practically yelling immediately, so close to calling for the Marines before Chigara laughed. _"No, no, Captain they're fine. They're controlled by Ryuvian Royalty, and once they saw a princess kidnapped, they told me they will help keep her safe."_

"So how do the Marines feel about this?"

" _I uh… haven't told them Kayto…"_ He sighed. "Of course not. Chigara, could they survive an impact over a few dozen meters?"

" _More than likely Captain… why?"_

"Because, I have a very nefarious plan and I know exactly how they fit in. Shields out." He cut the communicator and walked back to his desk, calling the commander of the Mining Union flotilla again. "Cardinal, it's Shields. Did you bring everything?" The Hologram was still materializing when Shields started speaking. _"We've got everything Captain. One hundred custom manufactured three meter cannon shells, frigate-grade generators, standard PACT munitions… It's not my place to ask but I'm going to assume you're going into battle after this refit?"_

"More like a resupply, and yes, we are. You're welcome to join us, Cardinal." The man smiled and shook his head. _"My fighting days are done - it's all merchantry here on out. You might be able to steal away some of my crew but I assure you, I don't really need them."_ A pause in the conversation as Kayto stared at the man, who sighed and played with a holopad of his own. _"Fine. I'll forward you their communication addresses, feel free to ask for aid."_

"Good on you Cardinal. Did you come straight from Union HQ or were you just in the area?"

" _HQ, yes. Ms. Brooks personally entrusted my flotilla to make the delivery for a reason, we're the best couriers in the galaxy."_

"Damn straight. I need you to send a packet back to her." He sent a packet off to the Captain, taking a bit longer as communication networks interfaced. "This is for Brooks' and above eyes only." Cardinal nodded. " _She'll have it the second we've finished here, Captain."_ With that, he cut the line and left his room, intent on speaking to his crew before repairs were completed.

First stop was the Observation deck, where his holopad told him Sola was. Poised at the very top of the _Sunrider_ , its purpose was to 'wow' newcomers on the vessel during a tour and allow for the crew to find a calm location. The chaplain's office was immediately connected to it and a shared hallway, and the sounds of now dead Ceran musicians flowed from discretely placed speakers. Sola spent a majority of her time awake her, staring into the void, and now was Shields' first opportunity to speak with her. "Sola, have you even slept since our first meeting?"

"I cannot tell if I am even awake, Captain Shields of the _Sunrider_ , or if I dream aboard the Sharr' Lac still." Neither of them spoke for a moment, Shields walking towards the edge of the deck where she was. He leaned against the railing, holding himself up by the middle of his forearms pressed against the railing. "You need something of me, Captain?"

"Just wanting to get to know the latest Ryder pilot to enter this grand ship is all. You come from several millennia before us; I literally can't imagine the galaxy you came from." She nodded. "You are right, you cannot. My time was a violent one; the Emperor and Crown Prince perished in an assassination, and my father, the Second Prince, took the Throne. The Bastard son of the Emperor, a renegade by the name of Crow Harbour, laid his own claim to what he believed his 'rightful' throne. He mustered forces across the galaxy and launched a civil war lasting fourteen years - the longest continuous conflict in Ryuvian history, mind you. The Empire would crumble without drastic measures." Shields was silent during all of this, more of a person nearby to the ancient speaking to herself, rather than part of the conversation.

She continued when he offered no question to that. "The vessel you found me in, the Sharr' Lac, was that measure. It requires that the daughter of the Emperor be its Captain, and it requires the daughter of the Emperor to be used - her life for unimaginable power. My life."

"I cannot fathom why your people would build the platform at all. The fact that you did not die tells me that either it was based on deception, or you fired it without full power. If such a thing is possible." She tensed up, looking away from Shields. "I have spoken enough of it, I will not further."

"A fair point. I have one last point before I leave. We need your aid." She cocked a single eyebrow. "It involves the current Princess, does it not?" Shields nodded. "This is not my time, your fights are not mine. I have already done enough by aiding your engineer, and I debate retrieving the Ryuvian property even now. I am no technologist - a marksman am I."

"Now you understand why I ask you, Sola. The Princess of Ryuvia, your Ryuvia whether you want to realize it or not, is in danger. The bravest of our Ryder pilots has been stolen from us. It would be fitting for a Daughter of Ryuvia to return home to save what amounts to her sister."

A minute passed by, then another, all the while Sola stared into space, thinking of his words. Shields sighed and turned. "Fine, if you wish not to help, we can drop you off on Ryuvia when we go there." He walked towards the exit of the Observation deck. "Wait. Captain." He stopped walking and turned his head. "I am sworn to protect Ryuvia, even millennia into the future. I will aid you to rescue the Princess." He smiled and threw up an upwards thumb. "Good to hear it. Tell Chigara anyway she needs to repair your Ryder." When she offered no reply, Shields took his leave from the Observation deck, heading down to Engineering.

"Captain, um, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Asaga…" Chigara was sitting at her bench, a dissected robot on top, while Shields was doing his utmost best not to get any headlight fluid or elbow grease on his uniform in the workshop, moderately surprised how fast it took the Deck Department to get the generators here so fast. "You were trying to protect Asaga, and I understand that, but keeping a secret like that put the crew in danger Chigara. Just… don't keep that kind of stuff from me again, okay?" She nodded, wiping her eyes. "Of course Captain." A memory crossed her mind and she smiled. "She shocked me too when she said she told me so long ago… must've been years… But please, Kayto, don't blame her for deceiving you. She had to run away, or she would've been married away already."

"So she just told you one day?" Chigara shook her head. "No no no, it was on Ryuvia, years ago. I had just arrived from Diode when some men came by to give directions. Suddenly, like she always has been, she arrived and starting shouting… I may have had to stun them with my hair ribbon."

"Your… hair ribbon? Is that some Diodean innuendo?" Chigara giggled and removed the ribbon from her hair, showing it off. "No, I built this. It can stun people, play music, tell time, be a flashlight, and of course, keep my hair clean."

"And here I was thinking that making the blinds move in my quarters was amazing."

"As I was saying… a little while after I ran away with Asaga, she told me who she was. She said she didn't want to go politicking on Ryuvia, but be an adventurer in the stars. We left Ryuvia the day her father told her she would be wed to PACT to protect Ryuvia… and we've been freelancers until we met you." Shields scratched his chin in thought, mulling over something in his head. "We know Arcadius would never really honor that marriage or the alliance to come of it. I bet Asaga is going to keep them distracted until we get there to save her though. Well, I take my leave now Chigara. Sorry I can't stick around. We'll do tea some time, right?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course! Oh, wait, Captain… Asaga had this." She produced a small storage device from her Ceran manufactured pocket. "She told me to give it to you if this kind of thing happened." He took it and flipped it in his fingers before throwing it in his inner breast pocket. "I'll look over it immediately Chigara. Oh, by the way, is the big one ready?" A nod was all her response.

After a brief encounter that ended with Claude obviously not asleep, and checking on Harker on the bridge, Shields was finally able to return to his quarters. He chose not to, taking the short detour to the medical bay. Inside, compared to when the refugees were on board, the mass of bodies were calm and sedated - literally in some cases. The only marines in armor were Aguirre and a subordinate, and it looked as if the former hadn't even shed his armor since the Sharr' Lac. The few left here were being cared for after injection of nanomachines. While not completely Lost Technology, their complete behavior had yet to be understood, meaning that occasionally their injuries required more traditional medical intervention after nanite 'repair'. Aguirre noticed Shields had entered and approached, snapping of a salute. His helmet had already been retracted to a simple top and back covering of his head instead of air tight. "Captain, good to see you. Everything alright?"

"Aside from our collective bank account Aguirre, everything's fine." He pulled the larger marine away from the awake and toward the exit. "Tell me, how many Marines are left? We had a beefed up platoon when we left."

"We're maybe three fourths ready Captain, bit more if we give these guys time to sleep and get set. I think 30 guys total. I'll be honest Captain, after that mission, I'm not sure we can really sustain another."

"Three fourths… had we time we could've fielded a company or more. Maybe even tanks and the real heavy armor." Aguirre simply nodded. "But that's not why I came, I'm here to check on the wounded myself."

"Well Captain, you're more than welcome to in my eyes, some of 'em might not talk back though." He nodded towards a section where marines were more tightly packed together, less space between beds. "They're all out right now, nanos are working but the docs ain't happy." With that, Shields left Aguirre to speak with the men and women in medical, trying to comfort them as best he could.

With the final Marine, a young man named Vellsar, spoken to and understood, Shields departed the med bay and headed for his quarters. The storage device was gently pushing around the nametag on his uniform, but thankfully no one cared for it. Once inside, he locked his door and disconnected his holopad from the network - considering the secret she'd kept, this could be just as important, couldn't risk it. Her holographic form appeared once he activated the file.

" _Uh, hello? Is it recording? I think it is… Lemme check!"_ She jumped out of view and fiddled with the camera, the recording stopping and starting with Asaga jumping back into view. _"Got it working now! Heya Captain, I bet you're wondering why I recorded this."_ He paused the recording. "Yeah, no shit Asaga."

" _If you've got this message, then I'm probably on my way to Ryuvia now and probably not by my own choosing. I'm really really sorry I didn't tell you at first! I didn't want to be lying this whole time! I thought we could just be adventurers and kick PACT ass while we were at it. I… I guess not. My dad told me you've always got to wake up at some point. Anyways. Whatever you do, don't come after me - my father is doing what's best for Ryuvia. I know he is. There's a legend on Ryuvia - whenever the kingdom is in trouble, the king sacrifices his only daughter to save everyone. If it means saving everyone, I'm willing to become the Veniczar's bride! I'll be a hero no matter what happens!"_ She wiped a tear away from her eye and jumped behind the camera, the recording ending afterwards. Shields leaned back in his chair, thinking of the situation.

"Don't go looking for the best pilot to enter the _Sunrider_? Fuck that, we're coming Asaga." He pulled out the storage device and reconnected his holopad, then brought it to his small safe and locked it away. Once he was sure it was alright to leave it, Shields returned to his seat and checked the message he got from Cardinal, and started sending messages to the crewmen on board the flotilla for aid. Each was minorly personalized, but they all had the same basic statements: PACT sucks, we hate PACT, want to join? He didn't expect messages to arrive as soon as he sent, and time proved him right. There was only one difference - one of Cardinal's communications officers, a former PACT lieutenant. And he was first on the list from Cardinal.

* * *

A few hours later, with most of the Mining Union's technicians working on the _Sunrider_ and allowing the Cerans some rest, Shields was in the Hangar, in front of almost one hundred of Cardinal's crewmen. Some were standing at near attention, while others just stood in a rough column. Shields expected it, they weren't his military, they weren't up to his standard. Or any standard. Closest to Shields was a former PACT Officer, one Leo Thayer, who was standing most appropriate of the bunch. While they chatted amongst themselves, it was Shields patched into the Hangar PA that shut them up.

"Crewmen of the Mining Union." The booming voice scared some of them upwards by a few feet, eventually bringing them all to look upon Shields. "Welcome, to the CSF _Sunrider_. I've asked you all to be here for a single mission - to assist us in fighting PACT." Whoops and holler emanated from the crowd at the chance, and died down again when they were nearly deafened by Shields. "How many of you think you can pilot a ship?" A dozen or so hands flew up. "And how many of you just love engines?" An equal if not greater number went up as the pilots dropped down. "How many of you crewed a bridge?" A portion raised their hands.

"Excellent, you're qualified to kick some PACT ass."

Someone in the back of the crowed yelled out to Shields. "What us guys that only shoot good!?" Shields laughed with the men for a few seconds. "Yes, of course, how could I forget. If you like your guns, you'll have the most important job of all of this." Leo took a step forward. "And what exactly would that mission be, Captain? I doubt it'll be as simple as killing some PACT rooks. Much as we'd like that." Another round of laughter.

"Right, of course not, you men are too good for that. No, I simply need you to board a PACT cruiser, disable its crew by any means necessary, re-engage the warp drive and jump to a system that's guarded by up to 600 PACT ships that aren't simple pushover which may or may not include their pride and joy super mega battleship, dock next to Veniczar Arcadius' personal abode on the planet, kill some PACT elites, not rooks, and then blast your way onto a new ship and get out. Sorta simple." A second ticked by before everyone in the hangar, including the Cerans, launched into an uproar of laughter that drowned out all other noise in the hangar.

One man failed to change composure as everyone else essentially laughed at him. The crew nearby, when tears were wiped from their eyes, finally looked the Ceran and saw he was not joking. Leo was first to compose himself and slowly the rest of the crowd did the same. It took the crew a few seconds longer since they were farther away, but all the same they stopped.

"Right, now that we're all as happy as we can be without some booze, what's the plan?"

"You're going to board a PACT cruiser, disable its crew by any means necessary, re-engage the warp drive and jump to a system that's guarded by up to 600 PACT ships that aren't simple pushovers and may or may not be led by their super mega battleship. Then you dock next to where their head of state is going to be, kill their best guys, send us telemetry and we'll pick you up. A simple op if you ask me, we'd do it if we didn't have other obligations." No laughter came now, and it almost looked as if the assembled volunteers would leave the _Sunrider_ had someone in the back not spoken up - the same man as before. "Ah hell Captain, if it's killing PACT I'm in!"

If anyone was expecting a round of applause of perhaps a slow buildup to applause, it never came. Instead, he saw a few nods from the crewmen, Leo included, who spoke up afterwards. "You know Captain, I think if anyone else said that, even that big dude at the top of the Alliance, no one would stop laughing at him. But something about you Shields, you got me in, at least a couple other rock farmers in on it. So sure, we'll steal a cruiser and send it straight into PACT's best defended system. What's there that's so important anyways?"

Shields smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, looking into the doors at the end of the hangar. "Well, that's the easiest question of the day. They've got one of my pilots, Lieutenant Thayer, and I intend to retrieve her."

* * *

"Veniczar, my lord, welcome to Ryuvia." Fontana bowed before Arcadius while Cullen simply nodded, his rather large belly getting in the way of any formal acknowledgement of the man before him. Arcadius offered no immediate thanks as he usually did. Instead, he simply stared into the chapel. "Once… this was the center of Humanity. A palace that reached into space, and now, even the lowliest can touch it."

"Fear not my lord, for this palace is still suitable for a king! An Emperor!" Cullen was beside Fontana now, both blocking Arcadius from entering the chapel completely. "Cullen. How goes the liberation?" If Cullen was surprised, he didn't hide it at all and it took his mind a few short seconds to realize what Arcadius really referred to. "Ah, yes, the Liberation. Of course, it's nearly complete. Our cannon prove them all to be highly cooperative."

"You know that the Neutral Rim is not our true goal, Cullen. Far Port is where we aim sights."

"Of course of course my lord! Those cowards wouldn't stop us before and now that can't stop us! Our best fleets are poised to strike them within days!" Fontana sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Cullen would you please lower your voice in these hallowed halls? Ryuvia may be a shell of itself but it deserves some respect."

"Bah, Ryuvia is but a backwater pit stop now, if they were so great they would still be strong."

"Enough, both of you. Cullen, once the Neutral Rim is ours, you shall lead forces against the Alliance. Let us see if you can truly act as you say." He 'bowed' again. "Thank you, my lord!"

"Now, Fontana. Tell me of the bridge, is she ready yet?" Fontana took in a breath, knowing Arcadius would not be happy with the answer. "While your bride is ready sir, this chapel is not. The Ryuvians find it difficult to find both witness and priest for this grand occasion." If Arcadius was fazed by this, he did not show it. "We shall grant them one single Ryuvian day to find both, as our dower. After that, we will take matters into our own hands."


	10. Trailblazers Do or Die

_So how about that Liberation Day Trailer? Looks like they grabbed a bunch of CGs, which admittedly look really nice. Hope they play that well in the actual game. Probably won't change anything here. MEANWHILE, in Rewritten Land: Literally nothing in this chapter happened in VN. I don't care at this point._

* * *

Long ago, before Ryuvia even held the seat of the head of the galactic human empire, warp technology was slow. Instead of nearly instantly arriving at a destination going faster than light, ships sped at the speed of light or even slower. Crossing between systems was a month or year long expedition that required a ship be equipped with cryogenic systems, or the crew arriving would be several generations after the crew that departed. Warp travel required a ship to be, for all intents and purposes, at the very edge of a system before warping away or all hell would break loose.

Now, those issues were solved. Once it would be completely impossible for a ship like the _Sunrider_ to visit the graveyards of former battles in a single tour, now it was as easy as waiting for the warp capacitors to recharge. A ship as small as the _Seraph_ could do it, though it had the benefit of Ryuvian technology long lost to the galaxy. To each battle site did the _Sunrider_ go, only after getting approval from the _Seraph_ that no PACT crews were still a threat; it only occurred once, a single ship's crew having survived on the supplies in their hold and using EVA gear to pillage 'nearby' ships when they ran out. Their cries for aid and rescue went unheard as the _Sunrider_ smote them from the galaxy.

Ava sighed as yet again, red Xs displayed on the tactical map. "Captain, we're not finding a single suitable ship." This was their fifth convoy ambush, some time after they acquired Asaga and Chigara, and their fifth warp in to check the ships they'd destroyed. "I guess that is a bit of a good thing, it means we're thorough." Shields barely got a rise out of Pfeiffer, and the thought began to creep into his mind that his plan would not be possible. "Look, we've got four more sites to check, after that we'll figure out a new plan to rescue Asaga, but I'm almost positive it'll be the next one."

"And why the next one? I don't recall you giving the order to only disable a ship and not destroy it, even to Chigara."

"Because you specifically said we haven't found one yet, that's why. Don't you remember any Ceran literature? We're bound to find what we're looking for the moment someone says we won't or can't find it." She didn't even sigh, she didn't even shake her head - the stress and lack of proper sleep was putting Ava on edge. "Captain, permission to speak freely?"

"If I say no it won't stop you, so yes."

"That's just stupid. We've spent the last three hours after refit looking at ambush sites for a single ship to have a working warp drive and cargo holds. Just because you read one too many books in school doesn't mean they were all fact. I highly recommend that, if we're going to save Asaga, we do it now."

"Ms. Crescentia, not even Alliance intel is good enough to get us the telemetry required to make a warp jump within meters of the Star Palace. We need a way in and we need to transmit that as close to the jump as possible. The only way that happens without the entire Alliance Navy behind us requires sneaking in, and, well, the Ghost Ship isn't exactly a sneaky ship." He patted the arm of his chair, pretending it could hear him and was offended. "So we need to find a ship that can sneak into PACT territory and get docked near the Star Palace. From there, we can warp and save Asaga. There's only a few more sites left now, once we've checked them all, you have my word that we'll follow through with your plans."

"Your word, Captain?" The hand that once patted his chair now gripped it in a vice. Shields slowly turned to look at his Executive Officer, speaking between clenched teeth. "Yes. On my word. The same word that saved those goddamn orphans, those goddamn Ryder Pilots, those goddamn slaves and by my own bare hands this goddamn galaxy." The bridge was completely quiet - it seemed even the _Sunrider_ silenced herself at Shields' rather angry outburst. Mcclain and Pfeiffer were both sitting ramrod straight and staring straight ahead like two children when their parents fought. Ava looked into Kayto's eyes for a second before looking down. "Y-yes Captain. I… apologize."

"Good. Helm, get us to the next site once Sola confirms no hostiles." The _Sunrider_ accelerated beyond the speed of light and arrived at a scene almost the same as before. Quickly, the _Seraph_ brought itself down on the _Sunrider_ and was pulled into its docking bay. Before them lay broken PACT vessels, useless to their former commanders. Life pods drifted aimlessly without fuel or supplies, their occupants long perished. A quick ping showed some still generated electricity and no major life signs, this site already richer than the last. "Captain, at least three of those ships out there are still online… cameras are putting them in focus, look like the _Venture Free_ , _Centauri_ , and _Breakwater_." His fingers flew along the control panel in front of him. "The _Venture Free_ has a blown bridge and the _Breakwater_ looks like it's lacking standard communications dishes. It appears the _Centauri_ … scratch that." The _Centauri_ rotated to a degree that a massive gash down the side - a glancing blow from the Saviors - appeared, coring the vessel. "Looks like _Breakwater_ is still salvageable. I'm getting energy readings from it, and the bridge is intact."

"You said it lacked communications systems?"

"Yes Captain. Scanners are definitely picking up some welded metal where the antenna used to be. My guess is it's got limited communication ability, possibly less than planet to planet."

"So you're saying there's a chance?"

"Yes sir, there's a good chance that ship is what we're looking for." Shields considered turning around and mockingly smirking at his XO, but decided against it at the last minute. "Excellent then." He pulled up the Ryder pilot display, Sola replacing Asaga's portrait. "Pilots, mount up and head for the tagged ship. Icari, get in close and make sure there's nothing freaky in there. Sola, hang back and do the same. Chigara, when you get close enough, disable communications and engines, just to be safe. And Claude." The moment he said her name, her eyes turned to hearts. "Don't use the special thingie."

With acknowledgements from his pilots, Shields pulled up another feed, the pictures of his shuttle pilots and Leo Thayer. "Pilots and boarders, the Ryders are being dispatched now. Once they give the all-clear signal, get on that ship, kill anyone inside, and make it space worthy if it's not anymore. We'll pump atmo if you need it." Each of them acknowledged, Leo opting for a salute while the pilots uttered "aye" each.

Minutes later, the Ryders were pulled from their docking bays and pushed into the void. Sola kept near the _Sunrider_ , scanning the ship on her own and keeping the rifle pointed down the metaphoric Range. Icari was speeding off to do her own inspection, followed closely by Chigara. It was easy to see her disablers warming up as they got close. _"Captain. I see nothing in my sensors. The ship is dead."_

"Understood Sola. Icari, how's it look to you?"

" _Not even there yet Captain! Just looking at it, it's not even responding to us. That thing is dead in the water!"_

"Keep watch anyways, we can't risk it at this point." Chigara raised her hand in the cockpit, and Shields politely stopped speaking. _"I disabled their communications array and engines Captain… I think it's safe for them to come aboard."_

"Copy that." He tabbed to the docking manager. "Levings, the shuttles are clear to approach, get them in the air ASAP. Shields out." A minute later, the two shuttles carrying half of the Mining Union militia left the hangar of the _Sunrider_ , on a direct course to the _Breakwater._ Most of them had their own EVA gear, but a few lacked and were borrowing unused Ceran gear - without the full crew complement and casualties, the _Sunrider_ was overflowing with some equipment. The hope was they could find PACT EVA gear, or better yet, actual PACT soldier armor for use later. And since the shuttles were without proper attachments to board vessels, it necessitated they drop off troops outside primary areas of the ship or find a hole close enough for them to enter.

One shuttle headed towards the bridge, near the center of the cruiser, while the other maneuvered to a two meter wide hole near the engines. As the bridge crew began to weld their way in, the engineering crew gathered on the outside of the _Breakwater_ , then cautiously entered. Some lights were still operating inside the Engineering Section, weapons drawn and visually scanning the large atrium. Shields heard rather loud chatter on the both their lines, and had to remind himself once more they were not military but glorified militia, not used to proper etiquette when boarding a vessel that could still contain hostiles. The Bridge crew finally made their way inside, progressing down the corridors, passed frozen bodies and globules of blood floating in the void.

"Hey Captain, there ain't nobody here, and I think we can use some of these bulkheads as airlocks… In fact, the one to the bridge is still shut. We might be lucky."

" _Go for it Leo, just make sure it's breathable first."_ He mumbled under his breath, being commanded by a young pup like Shields, then directed his charges as close to him and not on the wrong side of the soon-to-close bulkhead. Once they were all in one section, they pulled a lever to emergency bulkhead down the corridor, watching it slam shut before opening the one to the bridge. Immediately they were assaulted by a wave of low-pressure air, knocking some of them off their feet, short laughter following from a few left standing. Before anyone had the chance to remove their helmets, Leo produced a small rectangular box, letting it tick-tick-tick away until a small green light blinked on the top. "It's breathable boys, let's get to work!"

As one, the militia closed their air tanks and opened up their air ports, letting the stale, metallically tinged atmosphere flood their senses. For some, it was a reminder of homes from long before. For others, it was just another obstacle in doing the job they way they did, nothing more than a distraction. Leo was firmly in the latter group.

" _How's it looking in there Leo?"_

"Weapons is completely busted up, electrical feedback, saw it happen before. I doubt any of the projectors are properly working either, if we get this running it'll be all terminal based movement. Other than that, we just need a minor patch job up here to work. How's engine crew?"

" _They've hit a few… snags."_ A man with a rather thick yokel accent called up on the comms. _"We take offense to that! Not our fault the good cap'n decided to gore the ship's engine!"_

"Are you telling me this ship is not operable and we wasted all this time?"

" _Nah, me boys can handle it no problem, like you said, quick patch job. We'll have to be on air supply though, big hole we can't patch without looking funky back here."_

" _The_ Sunrider _can provide some spare air tanks and get you an air room, engine crew. How long do you both think repairs will take?"_

"Probably around eight hours, at that, Captain." Leo looked around to see his crew rummaging around the stations, some already ripping wiring out from the broken terminals and holomonitor systems and handing them off to people waist deep in computer guts. _"You've got half that, Thayer. Get to work."_

"Yes sir. Hey, Malley, any chance of getting normal power to the bridge?"

" _Let's check up here son… Engines and generators are online, 'cept for a few of the weapon specific ones, those are overloaded and gone. Uh, yeah, maybe."_

"Good, I'll let you know when."

* * *

"Alright, hit it!" Immediately, each of the terminals in the dark bridge came to life, broadcasting a red light across the entire bridge. Some sparks flew from a holomonitor station but a swift kick kept them from coming back. "That's got it boys, power's coming up nice and good." Each of his crew examined their stations, two men on navigation and helm with another on operations. Thayer put himself at the communications station, like his previous jobs, getting antiquated with systems he hadn't touched in years. "Feeds coming in nice. Hey Shields, you getting me?" A few seconds ticked by. "Uh, Shields?" He looked over the terminal now, wondering where they screwed up when he saw it was still on PACT only broadcasting. He flipped to the common civilian line. "Shields you there buddy?"

"Sunrider _'s still here guys, everything working now?_ "

"Right as rain Captain. If we had weapons, we'd be good to go destroy a few prize ships."

" _Too bad. You still remember the second part of this plan, right?"_

"Yeah, I remember. We warp to Ryuvia, pretend we're a hurt vessel that barely survived, then transmit docking telemetry to the _Sunrider_. Not even a tough plan."

" _You're forgetting that part about not completely destroying everything while you're there, and preferably not alerting them until the data is sent. It's useless to us if it's massively changed when transmitted."_

"Yeah yeah yeah, no problem. Should be just one more hour until we're ready to warp out. Gotta run some maneuvering tests and shit like that."

" _Understood. Sunrider out."_

* * *

"How are the preparations, Fontana?" Arcadius failed to stop and question his subordinate, instead walking the length of the chapel he would soon be wed in. "They progress my lord, albeit slower than before. The Ryuvians are… less productive than their king reported them to be."

"Will it interrupt the ceremonies in any way?" Fontana shook his head, handing a holopad off. "We rotated in another shift of the workers and projections have the soundproofing and defenses produced within the next six hours. After that, you should be able to continue the moment guards are posted."

This finally caused Arcadius to stop. "They are not already? Fontana, we are disappointed at this lack of detail." Realizing the attack, Fontana furiously shook his head in defense. "No my lord, guards are posted now, but we need the workers finished before we can fully deploy the soldiers. Our best of the best may be above the Palace now, walking the grounds, but they cannot simply walk around the chapel without some cover. As I said, it will be finished in time."

"See to it, because it appears Cullen cannot. Speaking of which, how go _his_ preparations?" The two of them stopped inside the chapel, near the middle. Four rows of pews sat unused, all facing the holy baubles and furniture of Ryuvia at one end, away from the large reinforced doors that made the exit. "You wish for my truthful word, my lord?"

"We do."

"Cullen has somehow managed to alienate even the best of our troops and they refuse to be present inside the chapel while Cullen is."

"And why cannot we switch soldiers for Cullen?"

"Because we require witness, lord, and soldiers are specifically outlawed from being witnesses on Ryuvia. I figured it more important to appear to follow their traditions…" Arcadius was silent at these developments, thinking through his various plans and procedures for how to react. "Acceptable. You are right, Fontana. Now, tell us more of the fleet…"

Several kilometers away, Asaga laid in a bed not touched for years, staring up at the holoscreen that simulated the Ryuvian sky she could not see any more, unobscured by PACT ships. The room looked exactly the same as when she left it - neatly put together except for everywhere. Clothes that no longer fit were left on the ground when she furiously packed, her old candy hiding spot wide open and filled with dust, the action figures she'd carefully and secretly procured still in one of her drawers. She'd expected the staff to clean up the room even a little bit, but it appeared that her father decreed otherwise.

The thought of her father brought a single breath to escape her, knowing that she'd still failed to speak to him since PACT dropped her off in the Palace. He had tried to apologize or at least get her to say hello when the squad of Elite PACT soldiers escorted her in, but her lack of response was enough of an answer to him. Deep down, she really did love her father, and she understood why he did what he did. Doesn't mean she had to be happy with it, though. She is Asaga, the eternal rebel, the eternal adventurer.

A knock resounded from her door. "Princess? I have your gown, it needs to be fitted." Asaga briefly considered ignoring the request, but knowing that getting it fitted now would mean a more uncomfortable wedding ceremony in the future. Not to mention, she was still in her pilot suit - wearing something else, at least for a little bit, wasn't a terrible idea. She rolled out of bed and silently approached the door, taking a peek at the staff through the peep-hole. The princess opened her door and ushered the smaller woman in, carrying a massive amount of white clothing that it seemed bigger than both of them combined. Asaga slammed the door shut and set her arms out, remembering the fitting process of other gowns from long ago. The dresser had a ruler out, muttering numbers to herself as she measured the princess. After a nod, Asaga was handed the bundle that was her gown and went to her dressing room to try it on.

When she returned several minutes later, the dresser immediately set about to fix it up as best she could - actually pulling the back together and placing it correctly, then noting areas where it was too loose or too tight. The arms were much too tight, it appeared that Asaga would simply rip them off with a single flex, thanks to her years of Ryder piloting. After some time of being poked and prodded and pinched by fabric, Asaga switched back into her pilot suit and handed off the gown to the dresser, who left to sew it to proper proportions. Had anyone else needed a dress or gown, it would a week between visits to get it correct, but as princess, Asaga was guaranteed to have it within the coming hours. Especially considering the wedding was due by the end of the day.

* * *

"Attention on deck!" Over two hundred crewmen snapped to attention at Ava's bark, slamming heels together and putting arms at their sides. Shields approached the several dozen closed caskets that occupied a cleared region of one of the cargo bays. He hated funeral detail, even when it was a simple accident, a death on board a ship was never a good omen in Ceran folklore, no matter how common it could happen. But considering Cera was gone, he thought, there was little that could go worse. When he was two meters away from the closest caskets, he stopped and turned on his heels to face his crew. Those assembled were only those off duty, meaning Harker, Brown, and Jimenez were unable to be there. However, twenty of the marines, including Aguirre were standing ramrod straight beside the caskets, two of them at the end of each column of caskets with Aguirre standing off to the side. Bertozzi was present, standing on a crutch and doing her best to stand at attention as well.

Shields took a moment to look at the caskets displayed before him, knowing each was a valuable member of the _Sunrider_ 's crew that they could not recover, wishing that some weren't so mangled that they could have a proper open casket funeral arrangement. Instead, they were all closed, the crew assembled knowing that a few of the marines were so badly beaten that there was no chance of an open casket. He took in a breath and began his short speech. "When we left Cera for our test run, we did not expect what occurred to happen, and we did not expect to be brought into this conflict. But we did expect losses, and we were prepared." His voice cracked towards the end of his statement and Shields forced himself to breath for a few seconds before continuing. "Prepared as best we could. Each of us knew the men and women in these metal caskets personally, each was best in their field. No matter what happens, we will remember their sacrifice to get us to this point." No applause came, as it should not have.

Kayto turned on his heels once more, to face the exit to the cargo bay. "Present, Arms!" Emphasizing a non-existent H in 'arms' gave him enough volume to be heard across the bay. As one, the Cerans threw their arms up in salute, watching as the caskets carrying their friends were slowly walked out into the void. The metal boxes carried only a single insignia of Cera on them - an engraving of the flag, exactly where the head would be. After the first set of caskets departed the _Sunrider_ and began to travel on their own, Shields called out once more. "Order, Arms!" The Ceran hands fell to their sides. "Left, Face!" They turned on their heels, towards the cargo bay barrier, watching the caskets leave the _Sunrider_ one by one until they were all in the void. "Funeral Detail, dismissed!" They lifted feet and turned on the heel of one and ball of the other, spinning exactly 180 degrees around, then walking towards the exit of the cargo bay. No one said a word, the funeral area a respected place and an unwritten rule to never speak during or after a funeral arrangement. One of the marines approached Bertozzi and offered an arm to help, but she waved him off and walked under her own crutch-fueled power to the lift. With the caskets gone and the crew going back to stations, only Shields and the deck crew were left in the bay.

Kayto finally appeared in the CIC a half an hour afterwards, long before the _Breakwater_ was ready to warp, accompanied by Aguirre, Bertozzi, and the Ryder pilots. Though they were still working on getting power fully operational, Leo Thayer was representing the _Breakwater_ in voice alone. Shields was busy planning the operation to speak, and it was only with a jab in the side by Icari that he finally produced the plans to his crew. A virtual, wireframe representation of the Ryuvian Star System appeared before them all, even Leo on his station, then quickly zoomed away to a spot far off from Ryuvia itself.

"This is a simple op. Ish. The _Breakwater_ will warp to Ryuvia, unable to fully move on its own, so that means maneuvering thrusters only, if you're going to collide with something. You'll be questioned by the Docking Command System," the appropriate wireframe building highlighting itself to fully red, "which is when you inform them of your predicament. If our ambushes are still being felt, then they'll be happy to have another ship come back and you'll be towed into dock as soon as possible." Knowing there was more, the crew was silently watching, though Claude wasn't exactly looking at Shields' plan.

"Once you're docked, they'll get medical teams out there as well as technicians to begin repairs. Even though the dock is less than twenty kilometers away from the Palace," another, much larger building appeared red, the dock command phasing back into blue wires, "the security is going to be light - Arcadius doesn't want anyone to mess up his wedding, especially since Alliance Intelligence says he's given them only a day left to make it happen. Anyways, the security will be light and you're going to fight your way straight to the Command Station and begin transmitting their fleet coordination data back to the _Sunrider_. Chigara has a quartet of hacking tools ready to go that will help you and we'll get them delivered just before you warp.

"Once we get the data, the _Sunrider_ is going to warp as close to the palace as possible. Preferably within a few meters." A miniature version of the _Sunrider_ appeared next to the Star Palace, and the shuttles immediately shot out of its hangar. "Our two shuttles will leave carrying the entire marine complement, who will proceed to absolutely destroy little Arcadius' perfect day, grab Asaga, then hightail it back to the ship. We'll pick you boys up on the way out, unless you want to steal a ship."

Leo was silently for a few seconds, and Shields took it as a nonanswer, beginning to detail the next part of the plan when he was interrupted. "We'll steal a ship, gonna be a lot easier. Then we can really hurt them."

"Good then. Once the data is transmitted, make your way to the… Oh, cool, they named a ship the _Podargus_ after the one we sliced back at the comm relay, that's funny." When no one laughed, he looked around. "Just me, really? Okay, fine, I guess. Right, steal the _Podargus_ , because intel has it at just about to head on patrol duty. Meet up with us after making a few random jumps near Tydaria." Being Union members, they knew where what amounted to mining operation one was. "Captain, how exactly are we supposed to just get the princess?"

"Good question Bertozzi. When the dock gets attacked, security will have to redirect, that's a fact. Sorry Leo. So there'll be a window where a major fraction of the Palace defenses will be unmanned and unobserved. That's when you do a classic Ceran City Theatre breach, grab Asaga, and leave. Maybe kill a few guys there." The Ceran City Theatre Standoff involved a dozen gunmen taking control of the most revered musical hall on Cera, trapping over two hundred guests inside and threatening to kill them all if their leader wasn't freed from prison. Ceran Defense Forces were called and after a few hours prep, managed to free each hostage without a single shot from the gunmen, thanks to their commander's tactical genius… and copious amounts of explosives on the door with some stun weaponry to back it up.

Kayto took in a breath, and before anyone could comment, he was back to dictating. "But seriously, don't kill their commanders - Cullen is horribly incompetent and only wins through sheer force, he's basically our best ally. Killing Arcadius will only galvanize PACT into fighting harder. Oh, and since Ryuvian law requires a witness from both parties' families to be present, that means a good chance King Jaylor will be there. He, obviously, is a priority one no-shot target." A repeated animation of thirty Ceran Marines standing outside the Chapel then bumrushing inside after an explosion was before there, Shields obviously not planned beyond this. Ava was, as always, on point and unimpressed by his lack of farsight. "So what's the exit plan, Captain?"

No response at first from Shields, causing Sola to smile at his loss. "I've got it! We blow our way out!"

"What."

"Yeah, trust me, it'll work. Chigara got it back online and we've got a lot of spare parts left over from the repairs, we can just blow out way out. Make our own road, like we have been." She rested a hand on one hip and another on her forehead. "I don't even know why I ask anymore. Alright, fine, it's a good plan. For the record, I'm against it because of possible loss of the whole ship but if you think it'll work, well, so far you've been right. One last note Captain, what are the Ryders going to be doing?"

The map flew away towards a small rectangular area guarded by a pair of cruisers. "The _Black Jack_ is being held here, behind some light guards. We send the Ryders out to destroy them, grab the _Black Jack_ , and get back here just in time for Asaga to return as well. Simplest part of this op." Icari offered no opposition to the plan, and Sola complemented her silence with extra strength silence. Claude was off in her own world, nodding along while staring at Shields. He looked at the gathered personnel. Icari simply nodded, as did the Marines. Chigara smiled wide and Sola gave an almost imperceptible nod to him as well. Full support. "No issues? Great then! _Breakwater_ , warp to Ryuvia in three hours and let's get this ball rolling."


	11. Heeding the Call

_A/N: I got banned on my favorite forum and didn't write one day, then I found a good part and wrote three times as much. If you want a much more filling experience, the song this chapter's name is from, Heeding the Call by Hammerfall, sets the scene pretty nice. Some more differences here, detailed on the Sunrider Forum._

* * *

" _Triumphant_ , match velocity of _Vigilant_ and continue on course."

" _Javelin_ flotilla, reports of unknown debris in course to Ryuvia, sending coordinates for ident and destruction."

" _Alacrity,_ you're clear to dock at bay three thirteen. Control handover point marked."

The bridge staff of the _Amar Carrier_ were calm and quiet for a mobile docking station's staff. Old Ryuvian designs were found long ago, for tenders capable of performing heavy maintenance in space without having to return to planets, mobile vacuum docks. The first few iterations after the fall of Ryuvia were all but anarchistic - communications staff packed too close together giving too many orders to too many ships who were trying to dock at too few bays. As time went on, these issues were fixed - more bays, more spaced out crew, better communications gear, but the bridge could still be a place of chaos. The _Amar Carrier_ was, in essence, Czar Arcadius' personal mobile dock, following his fleet and holding over any planet he was near, and with that came a sense of fear and dread that bred calm and quiet. Having to manage several dozen, if not hundreds, of ships at minimum at any given time for repairs and resupply meant the crew was always on duty, rotating four shifts a PACT day. Without proper training regimes outside of simply being on duty, each crewman was a highly trained operative in the art of making sure ships didn't crash into each other. And mostly irreplaceable.

" _Breakwater_ , hold and transmit ident codes." No response came back. "PAK _Breakwater_ , this is _Amar Carrier_ , transmit ident codes immediately or we will fire on you." The order to fire was queued and about to be sent out when the officer's headset buzzed to life, barely discernable voice coming above heavy static.

" _Hol… ire. Com… ashun… dish… out."_

"Repeat _Breakwater_."

" _Hold fire… Communic… on dish… are out."_

" _Breakwater_ , switch to high frequency transmission, it should boost signal to get a clearer message."

" _Check check. Can you hear… now?"_

"Coming in four by five _Breakwater_. Now, transmit ident codes or we will fire on you."

" _Copy."_ A stream of alphanumeric characters scrolled across the officer's terminal, the central processor comparing them to known PACT codes to determine authenticity. Each convoy, or ship if operating independently, was given an authentication code to ensure it was who it said it was, and changing a single character of the over two thousand character combination would mark it as false and a fake PACT vessel. A small green box flashed on the bottom right of the officer's screen. "Got your ident code _Breakwater_ … convoy P2X-639 right? Didn't they get ambushed by the ghost ship?" The other officers were listening in while giving out commands, the Ghost Ship something their Captain mentioned specifically not to mention.

" _Yeah, and we had to use EVA gear to loot our brothers' ships to stay alive! Just barely managed to get the warp drive working, looks like we found home. Where can we dock?"_

"We'll need to get a quarantine team out there _Breakwater_ , but docking systems have you clear for dock AJ5. I repeat, AJ5. Link your processor cluster with ours at the specified coordinates, we'll tow you in."

" _Much obliged_ Amar Carrier. _Can't wait to be home."_

The moment his comm line cut off, one of the bridge crew yelled to the communications officer. "Hey Leo, how the hell did you pull that off?" He smirked and turned in his seat - something only the newer PACT ships had. Old ones were naught but repurposed ships, this was a PACT designed and produced vessel. "I'm just that good Colby, I'm just that good."

"That's bullshit skip and you know it. What'ja do, hack into their systems and get us the code?"

"No, I memorized the lock in like, twenty seconds," he called back, discreetly stowing a small storage device into his pocket. "It ain't hard, I could teach any of you to do it. Hey, one of you guys do a scan for the ships docked nearby out docking point. Tell the others what ship we should grab."

"Would you jocklecocks shut it while I get us to station? This thing flies like a brick and I don't want to make us look suspicious."

"Bro, Cris, the only way we'd look suspicious is when the ship starts whistling." That was enough to stop the conversation, while the pilot slowly brought a trojan convoy ship into port. When they were within 250 meters of the station, the dock's systems took control from the pilot and maneuvered the _Breakwater_ itself, guiding it around other ships and stores into a docking platform. Leo got a good look before they shut down external sensors - nearly a kilometer away from the central communications hub. "Alright boys, here we go. Engineering, you guys ready?"

" _All's clear down here Leo, give us the signal and we'll make a ruckus!"_ The bridge crew contained a majority of the combat personnel, and were given the assault and transmission detail. The Engineering crew were half distraction, half acquisition. They would set off charges to detonate the powerplant and warp drive of the _Breakwater_ , after finding a suitable ship to steal. With luck, the confusion would allow them, and the _Sunrider_ if the gods smiled down, to escape relatively unharmed. "Picking up some guys next to primary boarding lock, should we go out an' surprise 'em Leo?"

"Nah, not yet, let me get on the comm." He pulled up a window, tapping a rectangle labelled 'EXT ARLK' and started transmitting to the technicians outside. "Hey guys, we're in a bit of a snag. You're gonna have to get in the old fashioned way on this side. We're all out of that section ever since it got hit by ah… a laser, yeah."

" _Gotcha, we'll start welding. Sure no one is in that section?"_

"There's no air there guys, so if anyone's in there I don't think we're lettin' 'em live." A pair of chuckles were all the response the PACT technicians gave before beginning to hot wire their way into the _Breakwater_. Each convoy ship had at least half a dozen different boarding locks on the exterior to help with moving cargo and personnel, and each had both internal and external command console to control them. And the technicians understood that, sometimes, these fragile doors needed to be rewired and spliced together in an emergency like this to help get anyone in need out. What they weren't counting on was the shaped charges sitting on the other side, wires crossed and waiting to be pulled apart to complete the circuit.

In under a second, the doors exploded outwards and threw the technicians out into the void without harnesses to pull them back. The next bulkhead behind the door slowly opened and vented atmosphere, revealing four dozen men in armored EVA gear, each armed to the teeth they had left. The front row had stronger shields than the rest, and consequently, bigger and bigger melee weapons. Behind them was Leo Thayer, strengthened EVA armor and shielding keeping him safe as he waved sword and slugthrower pistol forward. "Quick, while there aren't any nearby! Head left than right, one click!" The glorified pirates jumped out, leaving the _Breakwater_ and running towards the central pyramidal structure at the center of the dock.

Meanwhile, operating just a fraction slower, the engineers were inspecting the scans previously acquired. "We've got four ships nearby that are void worthy, another two that need to finish up some work to be ready. What we we taking fellas?"

"It's gotta be the _Pathfinder_. Nice cruiser that's just finishing up an engine retrofit, she's fully armed and lightly staffed."

"No, we're going on the _Gallant_ , it's a corvette designed to get in and get out fast."

"Yeah, and she's half empty on atmo and got no arms buddy, we take her and we barely last." Nolan had enough, throwing his gauntlet down on the table with a loud reverb. "Both of you, quiet! Which is closer, the _Pathfinder_ or the _Gallant_?" No answer. "I asked, which is closer?"

"The uh, the _Gallant_ , sir."

"Then we go _Gallant_. I want everyone out of here in three minutes ago, blow the charges the moment we're free!" With their leader giving final word, the engineers jumped to transporting their gear to a new ship, one filled with more hostiles and unfamiliarities.

The sprint to the dock command center was a relatively easy one - even this close to PACT leaders, security was a half dozen sleepy troopers in front of the command center. They were just out of orbit, meaning Ryders would only be able to make glancing passes to try to stop them, and the explosion kept them away. Once they were inside the _Amar Carrier_ itself, bombardment was out of the question. Leo was at the front of the pack by the time they made it inside, his heavily armored comrades to his sides. The four dozen crewmen gathered in front of the airlock into the _Amar Carrier_ , waiting for more explosives to be placed.

Contemporary airlocks were all, to some degree, explosive decompression proof. Some did it by spacing far apart so that if an explosive were placed, it wouldn't destroy both bulkheads. Others did it with heavy armor on the bulkheads. The _Amar Carrier_ , a venerable ship of the PACT fleet and almost as old as Arcadius, had neither of those things. The charges detonated, vaporizing the first bulkhead and puncturing the second. Immediately, warning klaxons and red lights flared inside the command station as air escaped into the void beyond. The assault team was on the second bulkhead in seconds, hot wiring it open like the technicians had - only without explosives behind the door to worry about.

Oblivious to the fact that it was venting atmosphere, the second bulkhead slowly raised and pulled anything not nailed down out to the void. Some of the PACT officers were fast enough to grab rebreathers and secure themselves in their seats, while most were not. One man was dragged to the waiting assault team, his rebreather sliced open when it collided with a specially placed combat knife, then slowly pushed over head and out of the _Amar Carrier_. Each surviving officer turned to see the threat before them, some four dozen men and women armed and armored beyond any nearby PACT fighter, all behind a single man with pistol and sword in hand.

No one spoke a word, let out a single breath, or even moved until Leo raised his sword forward and pointed it at the PACT Captain. He bellowed into his microphone, urging his comrades forth as he'd seen done times before, slowly walking forward as those around him swarmed into the room. The PACT Captain locked eyes with him, blinking not once as the sword severed the rebreathers connection to filter and air tank and then his own pressure suit. Leo turned and fired a shot at one PACT officer reaching for a weapon, saving one of his men from death. Crudely fashioned bayonets stabbed into suits and holopads were used as bats to hold off the inevitable, but in the end, each combatant knew the outcome - total slaughter.

After what felt like an eternity, Leo had the chance to really survey the damage they'd caused - several shot out holomonitor projectors, the entire bridge crew dead on the floor with several of his men with them, but most importantly, it was safe enough that they could work. "Clear the bodies and start transmitting, we don't have much time before they send in the real troops!"

Ten thousand light years away, Kayto slowly tapped his index finger on his throne. "We're in the last hour of the transmission window, I guess it makes sense that a bunch of pirates wouldn't be able to do it." He didn't even have to look behind his chair to know Ava was smiling in victory at his admission of failure, though they were the only two relaxed on the bridge. Pfeiffer was coordinating with the communications team to ensure they were listening on every frequency while Mcclain furiously typed at his terminal with other members of the engineering and weapons departments. Craze was working on higher level calculus and physics to better understand and operate the upgrades Chigara added to the warp drives, occasionally requesting Shields to warp them for experimentation. Each request was shot down as fast as Ava believed they soon would be.

"So Captain, will you at least review the other plans when the infiltrators fail?"

"I already did Ms. Crescentia, and I can say I'm not happy with projected losses."

"We are going to the biggest PACT rendezvous point in history to retrieve one person, Captain, those losses are rather conservative."

"Your objection has already been noted Commander. Mcclain, how are systems holding up with the new generators?" Mcclain swiveled in his chair to face Shields, the first time since they'd departed Cera, a smiled stretched across his face. "Absolutely beautiful Captain. We dump all excess power in trinities and we could theoretically fire non-stop high power lasers for an hour, we can jump in half the time or less." The smile on his face slowly changed to a madman's smirk. "Or, we could use _it_ coming right out of warp." Pfeiffer turned in his chair at the tail that statement, but no smile adorned his face. "As fun as that it, Captain, we're receiving telemetry from the ground teams." He turned back and sent the stream of data to Shields' station.

"Pfeiffer, that's a bit more than 600 ships."

* * *

Good recaff wasn't too hard to find when you were the assistant to Czar Arcadius' Bodyguard Commander. As long as he kept the man up to date with security threats, he had the easiest life in the PACT sphere of influence. Granted, it was still hard work, especially setting up a wedding between two of the most high profile individuals this arm of the galaxy, having to consider even the smallest threat to the big man up top, but he'd done it. And with the wedding within the next two hours, his job was going to get really, really tough. So to enjoy a nice cup of recaff right now was as close to bliss as he could get. And that's exactly why he dreaded seeing the first lieutenant running down the Star Palace corridor to him.

"Colonel! Colonel Metz there's been an emergency!" Before even responding, Metz looked around and thanked Arcadius, knowing no one was nearby to hear the man yelling. He dropped the cup into the trash and immediately put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Calm down…" his words trailed off as Metz looked to the officer's name tag. Harrison. "Calm down Lieutenant Harrison. Take a breath and tell me what's going on." He man took in a few short breaths before starting. "Colonel… there was an explosion at the docks and now we're not getting any response from the bridge."

"Is it moving?"

"No Colonel, it's in the same orbit."

"Have any ships undocked?"

"No, everything is still there. Shouldn't we be alerting the garrison and going over there instead of talking?" Metz sighed and put his arm around the younger officer's shoulders. "Harrison, let me ask you a few questions while we walk." He pulled the younger man where he came from. "Firstly, what day is today?"

"Uh, Lord Arcadius' wedding?"

"And do you think he wants to hear that something went wrong on a dock and delay his wedding now?"

"N-no, sir."

"So if do you want to be the guy that gets to tell him that he must delay the wedding even more while we check out what was probably some technicians accidentally touching fuel to welding torches, again?"

"But he should still know about this, sir!"

"And he will Lieutenant, the moment his wedding is completed in Ryuvian eyes. But for now," he whispered as they rounded a corner and the lieutenant saw his familiar atrium station, "we wait and make sure it doesn't directly impact the wedding, mmkay? Great. Good to speak with you Harrison." Shaken by the fact he'd just been told to ignore what was probably some kind of attack, Harrison slumped down in his seat, staring at the holomonitor projector. The first explosion he'd recorded, watched it again, then run to get the officer on duty. But staring at the holomonitor, he realized he'd accidentally left the explosion video looping, because it happened again on the dock.

Except it was bigger this time. Perhaps he ran before it was all over? Harrison did a double check, and quickly realized he _did_ leave the video looping, but another one was recorded and displayed above it. There was a second bombing, and it was an entire transport ship. Metz was still in earshot and he quickly called the higher officer over, showing the video. The man's face blanked, realizing what was happening. "I… I need to inform the higher ups. G-good work son." Now Metz ran faster than Harrison did, off deep into the Star Palace, to his CO.

* * *

"So we'll be within a few dozen meters of the Chapel?"

"If there aren't any major ship movements, yes, we can warp right next to it and warp out without issue." Shields highlighted a region of space behind the Chapel, completely blank. "What about this?"

"Probably dead space sir, nothing close to the chapel, or else they might influence each other. Arcadius probably doesn't want it to look like a shotgun wedding either, at least not at the start." There were no ships near the Chapel, but a larger space behind it was empty than around. Probably less than three ships total within a few hundred kilometers. "Then that's where we warp in, it's perfect. Close to the chapel, close to where they're keeping the _Black Jack_ , and I hear the school district is fantastic!" At least Ava smiled with that one, but it quickly disappeared before anyone but Shields noticed. He looked at the edge of the dais, slowly walking to the edge and resting on the railing. Before him, a second rotation of officers were on deck, his first rate bridge crew having rested before this battle. One by one, they noticed him looking down, pulling away from terminals and input stations, looking back up. From his position he was still able to operate the PA, and opened it across the _Sunrider_.

"Crew of the _Sunrider_ , and Auxiliaries, this is your captain speaking. As you all know, PACT recently kidnapped one of our crew, and took her to their biggest strong point for an arranged wedding to their top dog, Arcadius. Some of you may have met with the militia we recruited to hit PACT before us, and if you didn't know before, they did so and succeeded. As I speak, we are receiving enough information to make a precision jump right next to Arcadius' chapel, and I fully intend to rescue our fellow crewman. This won't be easy. This won't be a shakedown cruise or engaging pirates. This is the entire PACT Neutral Rim Fleet before us, hundreds if not a thousand ships that could each blast us from the void to the void.

"But they forgot one important fact. We are Cerans, each one of us. We do not give up. We do not surrender. When there's a fight worth fighting, Cerans will stand. When our homes are attacked and our families slaughtered, we do not give in. We are going to march right to PACT's front door and show them that we will not go quietly into the dark night, that we will not let them get away with their crimes, we will not allow them to have a single victory so long as we can help it. All hands, battlestations, I repeat, all hands to battlestations. Prepare for immediate warp. Marines, to your shuttles. Pilots, your Ryders. We've got a Princess to rescue. Shields out."

No one applauded nor stood at his speech, instead the crew rushed to their stations. Engineers double and triple checked power outputs while the Marines donned armor and checked weapons one last time. Chigara attached a quartet of devices to the Shuttles, then entered her Ryder, following Icari, Claude, and Sola. The _Sunrider_ slowly rotated to face Ryuvia, and in an instant, she was gone.

* * *

"My Lord, welcome to Ryuvia. I hope it is to your liking." The leader of PACT looked at the chapel he was brought to, taking an extra moment to observe the priest to officiate the wedding. Neither the king nor the bride were present, Cullen being the only other person in the room. He was off to the side, arguing on a communicator with the defense coordinators. "This world… It was once, center of Humanity. A shame that we cannot be wed when these halls were overflowing with niceties." The more rotund Veniczar approached the duo, giving the appropriate and formal greeting to the most powerful man this side of the galaxy. "My Lord, it is truly a pleasure to see you here today." Almost brushing him aside, Arcadius turned to fact the priest in the room, staring him down behind the metal mask. "Cullen. How goes the liberation of the Neutral Rim?"

"Quite excellent my lord! Each day many planets join us, but that is not conversation mere hours before your most great wedding!"

"No, Cullen, the time is now. The Neutral Rim is but a testing ground for us. Our true objective is the Alliance. Far Port. They've put entire fleets there to defend the navigational database there. When we take it, we will be able to find and enter any system they control."

"And then we can crush the Alliance in a single afternoon!" He raised a fist into the air, of triumph not yet had. Fontana simply sighed and listened to the two, noticing the priest doing his best to not be in the room. He turned to them and grabbed Cullen's attention. "Careful Cullen, the Alliance is not like the Neutral Planets you've conquered before. Just because you've managed to convince a single planet at gunpoint to join us doesn't mean you can defeat the Emerald Fleet alone."

"Aha, a challenge is it? Very well Fontana, whoever's fleets are the most victorious is the victor, eh?"

"I can't even justify a response to that, Cullen." Arcadius raised a single hand to cease their squabbling. "Veniczar Cullen, you shall lead our fleets to Far Port. Fontana, you shall begin patrols in our newly acquired territory instead."

"Of course my lord." His holopad beeped, a pair of messages received - one from the defense commander and another from his man in the Ryuvian Palace. "Ah, my lord, if you'll follow me, there is a special guest we'd like to meet." The trio departed the chapel without a word to the Priest, who was happy to have them gone and not making him anxious. A shuttle materialized from the void and landed on one of the two platforms in front of the chapel, disgorging a pair of bodyguard squads. They look up positions around the commanders as they entered the shuttle, as did a quartet of Ryders to the vessel, then flew the short distance to the Star Palace, where Asaga awaited.

Cullen and Fontana discretely left Arcadius to meet his bride to be, both speaking with the officer on guard detail for the princess. Without them, Arcadius quietly entered the massive loft that made up the Princess' quarters, waiting for her to turn from the duraglass window to speak first. When she offered no speech to him, he approached the window and began to speak. "Our… beloved. Are you prepare for eternity?" Asaga turned to face him, pure disgust on her face. "Your father… he is truly naive if he believes that offering a single girl would save his dying planet… well, your dying planet, from what comes." He took a step towards her, an arm reaching outwards for a single touch. Asaga stepped back from him. "All your secrets shall become ours. Just as the old Ryuvian Emperors of ages passed, we shall hold the galaxy in our grasp. But not from Ryuvia will that hand reach, no, it will be from New Eden!"

"You'll never get away with this, I'll stop you!"

Any other person would have smirked. The last hundred years proved Arcadius anything but average. "Oh? And what exactly would a school girl do to oppose the most powerful in the galaxy?" Another step closer, and Asaga could not find space to step back. "Your life is ours now. Your body, ours. Your soul will crushed and burned until you are but a dog, waiting for her master's commands."

"N-never!" Asaga barely heard the breath escape his lips before he reared an arm back and slapped her against the window. "You will be silent!" She gasped in pain, pushing down on her cheek to calm the pain. "How cruel is destiny… that it is we who must suffer, while a little doll holds a destiny greater than us. But… in mere hours, you will be ours. A key to every weapon in this galaxy, strong enough to bring it to a standstill." Arcadius raised his arms above him, marveling at the fleets before and the woman beneath. For the first time in some years, Arcadius laughed.

* * *

"Dearest guests. We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of the Righteous Czar S. Arcadius to the Royal Daughter, Princess Asaga di Ryuvia."

The Marines were on board the shuttles, not hearing either pilot complain about the extra weight that Chigara affixed to their sides.

The Priest took in a breath, realizing fully now what he had been commanded to oversee. King Jaylor failed to look at the man, staring intently a brick beyond him. Cullen and Fontana both watched, seating at the pew on Arcadius' side.

Each Marine made a final check before strapping into the shuttle seats, waiting to be sent across the galaxy.

A half dozen security troops stood at the back of the building, as close as Jaylor would allow without declaring the marriage illegal, though, Arcadius cared little for what the eldar cared. "Does the… honorable Czar S. Arcadius take the Princess Asaga di Ryuvia, as his lawfully wedded wife, to love unconditionally, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, in joy and in sorrow, to cherish and to hold for as long as he shall live?"

Shields gave the command, sending the _Sunrider_ from a graveyard of PACT ships to Ryuvia. In an instant, she was less than thirty meters from the Chapel, directly next to the landing platforms, unheard.

"Yes."

The shuttles departed the _Sunrider_ , followed closely by the quartet of Ryders on board, launching for a larger holding facility.

One of the guards listened to his communicator, warning of possible additional hostile action tied with the bombing at the _Amar Carrier_. He stiffened when Fontana shot a glance backward.

The Marines touched down and leapt from the shuttles, running to the chapel entrance. A quick scan showed no important persons immediately in front of the door.

One of the upper patrol guards called down to those in the Chapel, warning them of the new ship to arrive and the shuttles that it shot out.

Aguirre placed a black rectangle on the massive doors to the Chapel, enough explosives to rip through the _Sunrider_ 's bulkheads. He was glad the Chapel was in an atmosphere bubble generator and didn't have to worry about vacuum.

"And does Princess Asaga di Ryuvia solemnly pledge to take Czar S. Arcadius as her lawfully wedded husband, to love unconditionally, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, in joy and in sorrow, to cherish and to hold for as long as she shall live?"

Aguirre nodded, acknowledging the ready status of the other twenty marines opposite his, and gave one last look around before pushing the plunger. "Breaching, breaching!"

A single tear streaked down Asaga's cheek. "I… I…"

Her response never came. The doors to the Chapel burst inward, the PACT soldiers guarding it thrown to the ground from the shockwave. A flood of blackened armor entered the chapel, each bearing a single familiar crest of a dead planet - Cera. One of them yelled as they entered, their speakers booming, spitting out an augmented voice nearly identical to Shields' Ghost Voice. "Ceran Marines!" The six people at the altar looked at the disturbance, waiting for the dust to settle while the intruders methodically executed the PACT guards or trained weapons at them.

 _Clank_. _Whirr_.

Something was coming that wasn't completely person.

 _Clank. Whirr_.

Again, what was it? Was it the robots from the Sharr' Lac? Asaga was lost in thought as the being came into view. Another of the armored marines of the _Sunrider_ , without a black leg - it was silver, servos attached directly at the knee. Asaga knew this marine, she'd met her before. Bertozzi.

"By the power vested in me by Captain Kayto Shields of the Ceran Space Force _Sunrider_ , this marriage is null and void! Asaga, c'mon, we're leaving!"

"No, you cannot do this to us, this marriage has already been made legal!"

Asaga ran off to the Marines, Bertozzi handing her a spare sidearm. A couple of notches were carved into the side, along with a Ceran name she didn't recognize. "No matter what happens here woman, we will end your pathetic kingdom without any mercy!"

"What? We had a deal Arcadius! You cannot do this to my people!"

Arcadius turned to the father of his once bride. "We can and we wi-"

A shot rang out, missing Arcadius' beautiful metal mask and head by centimeters. "Say one more goddamn word about my Ryuvia and I will end you Arcadius!"

"We wouldn't consider that…" With Cullen fainted off to the side, Fontana was forced to make the jump and seize the king. A pistol jabbed into his back. "For, if you leave, your father shall too. But, his story would end here, and so will your pathetic kingdom." Instead of shocking all those in the room, there was laughter, from the King. "Those are empty words, Arcadius. You know as well as I do, Ryuvia is weak. The infinite kingdom is ending, embodied in an old, frail man. So go ahead, have you man shoot me. You will kill only a dying old soul."

"Very well. Fontana, kill him." A pair of shots rang out, showing clean holes through Jaylor's body, then swallowed by blood. "Father!" Asaga attempted to run out but was grabbed by Bertozzi. The Marines trained weapons to Arcadius. "I… I have no regrets my princess. He promised your safety for this wedding… I did it for you… I did it… for you."

And there was the end of King Jaylor, first of his name, ruler of Ryuvia and the Greatest Empire to have ever crumbled. With no concrete reason to stay, the Marines exited the Chapel, a laughing Arcadius at their backs. Guarded by five Marines, Asaga ran next to Bertozzi, her heels staying with the body of her father. It was only when shots came from atop the Chapel did they finally need to stop running, meters away from the waiting shuttles. Cullen had finally awoken and was yelling orders and profanities at the guardsmen, urging them to shoot them where they stood. Several marines fell, some getting up while other stayed down, blood seeping from their armor. Asaga was cowering behind a docking sensor with Bertozzi when she yelled. "Where's Kayto?"

"He's on the ship!"

"Tell him I need help damn it, we need help!"

Many centuries ago, the Ryuvian Empire found their wars too costly and too entwined in logistics to be worth while, fighting over by the time they could arrive. They needed something to act as a stop gap measure until troops could arrive, both fighting and surviving for some period. Those were the first combat robots, massive machines that were more like mobile bunkers than anything else. As time wore on, they were refined, strengthened, new materials found to improve them. Eventually, made humanoid. Sent to guard outposts and secrets, like the Sharr' Lac, these robots stood vigilant with several directives - to Protect Ryuvia, to Protect the Ryuvian Bloodline, and to Protect the Ryuvian People.

The four surviving combat robots heard the screams of their princess, knowing exactly who she was after Chigara told them. They, as a group, jumped from the shuttles, and launched to the PACT soldiers pinning down the Cerans. Though they were less in number, their agility and strength more than made up for it - a pair descended on the PACT troopers flooding the ground level while another two jumped upwards to the guardsmen on the roof of the Chapel. That gave the Marines enough distraction to start firing back, Agnerson raining fire upon those out in the open. Slowly they pulled back to the waiting shuttles, leaving the robots behind to clean up and cause hell.

With a second to breath, one of the Marines handed a communicator to Asaga, while others discretely took pictures for future blackmail. "Kayto, it's Asaga, I'm safe. When can we leave?"

"Right after we get your Ryder, the others should have it now. Oh yeah. There's this big battleship in our path."


	12. Night Witches

_A/N: Another Chapter, more glory. Words for the Word God! Pages for the Page Throne! Suggested Listening: Night Witches by Sabaton_

* * *

"Marines away, Captain."

"Ryders, you're clear to retrieve the _Black Jack_." The four answered Shields by leaving the _Sunrider_ , zooming off to a designated holding cell. Though Alliance Intelligence wasn't able to pinpoint a number of ships in the system, they were able to note a squad of PACT Ryders and a Heavy Cruiser guarding an unmanned Ryder - undeniably the _Black Jack_. With quick reaction flotillas headed to the _Amar Carrier_ to neutralize the assault teams, the Ryders were able to approach without drawing too much attention. Sola was the first to stop, hanging farther back than the rest, her cannon already aiming at the restraints of the _Black Jack_ , while Icari was dashing towards the Ryders to engage in melee combat. Another stroke of luck, these Ryders were the elite bombardiers of Arcadius' fleet, not the standard multirole Ryders they usually fought.

Sola started the show, a massive shell flying through space and destroying a barrier generator in front of the _Black Jack_ , opening it up to the void. The Bombardiers turned to face this new threat, and the cruiser followed in suite, albeit in twice as much time. The _Seraph_ detected launches from each of the bombardiers, followed by energy discharges. While the capacitors onboard the _Bianca_ and the _Liberty_ were able to handle the laser assault, the _Phoenix_ was not so fortunate. A hole appeared in Icari's Ryder's leg, shutting down maneuvering thrusters along the appendage, forcing Icari to compensate and slow down or face tumbling away from her target. Sola fired again, this time right into one of the bombardiers - without heavy armor, the shell ripped through circuitry and metal and exploded, disabling the Ryder Pilot's connection to his missile pods.

The launched salvo approached the Ghost Ship's Ryders, the electronic warfare suite onboard the _Phoenix_ managing to fool them away from her and far into the void. A majority of the pods, however, detonated, throwing dozens more actual explosives into space, each arcing in different trajectories. This close, only a high powered point-defense system from a highly advanced experimental warship could defend them without major issue.

Too bad they were out of the _Sunrider_ 's range by this point. The _Liberty_ was first to be hit, peppered by explosions across the metal frame. Beside it was the _Bianca_ , the damage mitigated by a quick reaction with the gravity manipulation weapon, but now missing a pair of her 'wing' panels. Before them stood a half dozen bombardiers and that heavy cruiser, almost facing the _Seraph_. Without warning, Sola's right eye changed color and started to glow, her Ryder making short and small movements as she began to target the sensors on the cruiser. If by coincidence, they fired simultaneously, a pair of laser turrets firing off at her engines while her shell soared through space right at their fore sensor suite. Seconds after the attack, it exploded into nothingness, taking away the hull behind it and exposing a section to the void. A pair of crewmen were violently ripped away from life as they were ripped from their ship, though it continued to chug along. To complement their loss, one of the _Seraph_ 's engine units died on the field, sputtering to keep her moving until finally stopping.

With the cruiser distracted by what they thought was a simple Ryder, the other three hasted to retrieve the _Black Jack_. Another volley of missiles was launched, followed by the raising of laser batteries. This time, too close for Icari to fully dodge or distract, the _Phoenix_ was first to be hit - a quick diagnostic revealed Icari's autocannon reloading system offline. Without ranged weaponry, she raised sword and pushed her Ryder to flank speed, headed straight for the closest bomber. Meanwhile, Chigara managed to raise a shield barrier in time to stop the missiles that made it passed Claude, a majority of them that is. With a second to spare, Chigara quickly examined her EW suite - at least two of the bombers were unsecured to intrusion. Immediately her Ryder's processor made connection and wormed its way into the bombers' systems, shutting down one's reloading system and pulling back coolant on the other, effectively disabling it until the reserves could be cycled through.

Icari finally closed the gap and engaged a bomber in melee, her field of choice. The two blades cut and sliced at the shield and laser battery only to receive a blast of missiles directly in the midsection. The bomber fired thrusters and fled back to the station holding the _Black Jack_ , behind the cover of its allies. One turned and had all missile silos open when the command station exploded - a shell from Sola. Icari turned and nodded, unseen, and returned to her prey. The _Liberty_ and _Bianca_ managed to get outside of the cruiser's line of sight, directly next to the now fallen barrier in front of the _Black Jack_. Chigara immediately tried to grab hold of it and pull, then realized that pulling with a shield and laser weren't exactly optimal, or really possible.

"Captain, we can't get the _Black Jack_ , we can't pull it! How do we get it out!?"

" _We're a little busy over here Chigara… I don't know, ask Claude to use her special gun, I think that'll work!"_ With a command straight from her true love, Claude pulled the gravity gun up and aimed it at the unmanned Ryder, slowly pulling it from the restraints. Were there sound, a cacophony of snaps and breaks of cables and metal would emanate from the Ryder. Instead, only the quiet of the void. "We've got it Captain, we're bringing it home!"

" _Yeah do it fast because there's a big battleship right in front of us and I don't think it cares we've got the princess on board! Ryders, return now!"_

Immediately Icari lept from the second Ryder she attacked, firing a burst from her arm mounted cannon at it as she retreated. The _Liberty_ was putting as much shielding as it could on the _Black Jack_ while the _Bianca_ pushed it towards their mother ship. Only Sola stayed still, now unable to move due to laser fire. In revenge, she'd peppered the cruiser with holes, blowing away some turrets and blasting some crewmen to their short deaths. The cruiser reoriented some of its surviving turrets towards the Ryders, more than the _Seraph_ could reasonably blow to nothingness before they fired. Sola moved her rifle to face opposite the _Sunrider_ , and fired a pair of shells into the void. "Chigara. My engines are shot, and I am traveling on my own power. Take what you need to keep your shields up." A single nod was the only confirmation as she rotated the receivers on the _Liberty_ to face the _Seraph_ , beaming power from the ancient Ryder to her own.

"That should get you through a volley." She was right, it did - the laser fire only forced the shields to shimmer, it failed to penetrate or even scorch a capacitor. The same could not be said for the barrel of the _Seraph_ 's cannon, now freely floating away from the aged archaeotech. _"Hey Sola, don't move!"_ Before she could respond or even notice, the _Phoenix_ changed course and made speed to the floating _Seraph_ , wrapping its arms around the other Ryder's waist, blades locked against one another. _"I'll fly, you shoot!"_

Even without the complete barrel of on her cannon, Sola knew it was still enough to be a threat. Her autoloader finally kicked into gear once she overrode the warning system. One of the canisters rolled into the receiver, and she adjusted just barely enough to fire on the cruiser again. In a split second the shell exited the barrel and careened toward the cruiser, slower than before and only minorly less powerful. The bombardiers, nearly forgotten, fired once more at the fleeing squadron, and their missile pods exploded into dozens more smaller missiles farther away, only a minor victory for the auxiliaries. However, it was quickly snatched away once each of them realized they had no way to defend against those missiles. Sola toggled her autoloader and fired yet another shot at the cruiser, her mouth twitching into a smirk for less than a nanosecond when she realized where that shell was headed - right for the bridge. With luck, it would penetrate far enough.

" _Guys, I'm not so sure we're going to survive those missiles…"_ They were even closer, easy to see the trails of chemicals left behind by their boosters. Sola locked on to one of them, closest to her and aiming straight for her and Icari. She blinked, and just like that, it was gone.

Then another went. And another. No explosions appeared this time, the missiles vaporizing too fast to explode. Were the _Phoenix_ not on her back, or this some millennia ago, Sola would have craned her head to see the cause. But now, she knew exactly what was dealing with those missiles. _"I'm almost positive you don't have to worry about them, pilots."_

For a second, it appeared that Claude would simply keep focusing on the _Black Jack_. For a second. _"Oh Kayto!"_

" _Yeah Claude by the way we generally act professional on comms, I'm only getting away with it because I'm the highest ranked officer here. Oh, speaking of you guys docking, there might be a bit of a hard time getting inside, they tried boarding us. Oh, and watch out for the shuttles, they're fragile. Don't want you running them over."_

Sola finally relaxed, seeing the cruiser fail to adjust its course with the Ryders, knowing that she'd either killed the bridge or because they realized the Ryders were under the protection of the _Sunrider_ 's guns. Though, for the latter, she quickly realized that PACT probably didn't care.

* * *

" _Attention all crew, boarders are incoming. I repeat, boarders incoming. Secure bulkheads and fall back to defensive positions. Damage control is now a tier two priority, anyone that can defend this ship will."_

Truly, being a cook on a combat ship sometimes sucked. Okay, it mostly sucked. But sometimes it was nice - like on the _Aegirian_ , thought Mess Sergeant Hortisson, where the only time they had combat detail was against badly equipped pirates near Cera. Now it was 'starting a rebellion this' and 'you're not cooking the tomatoes well enough' that, things he'd not signed up for, or accepted Shields' offer to transfer to the _Sunrider_ for. Now here he was, hiding behind a support pillar with some boxes as cover, holding a rifle he hadn't touched since basic training years ago, waiting for an enemy he wasn't exactly keen on fighting. Beside him were his mess hands, other men and women in his same predicament. The only additions were two of the quartermaster's staff, armed with a heavy cannon thing of some kind, the one with like a dozen barrels. The guy behind it had it plugged into a generator off to the side, watched carefully by the second, another weapon hooked into it.

"Eyes front, they're about to attach!" Hortisson clamped down on his rifle and pressed against the pillar, aiming down at the sealed bulkhead down the hallway. It was only a few meters away from the hull of the _Sunrider_ , and more importantly, one of the many airlocks. A massive _clang_ resounded through their little slice of not-cafeteria, and one of his mess hands started to breathe a bit heavier and quicker. Hortisson quickly considered the best food to calm someone, and settled on nice beef stew with cold milk by the time the bulkhead grew a pair of red dots. Wait, he thought, bulkheads don't grow red dots, that's just pears. The two dots started to run around the bulkhead, cutting out a rectangle in the metal, leaving red lines where they passed. They found where the other appeared and then disappeared, and the red lines started to disappear.

And then suddenly Hortisson was getting a free haircut, before being pulled back by one of his men behind a storage crate. He ran a hand over his hair, distinctly remembering his denial of a helmet because he still wanted to see, and realized how close he was to dying. Other members of the ad-hoc barricade team were firing at the bulkhead, the two armory crew waiting for something to happen before they fired. Hortisson took a peek over the barricade and notice that he didn't see anything in the hole in the bulkhead. And that there was a hole in the bulkhead.

As the fire died down, a pair of massive forms appeared in the hole and emerged into the hallway, their armored gleaming red and black, heavy metal slabs in front of their bodies. The two crouched behind the shields and started to slowly walk forward, covering what looked like another two obviously PACT baddies entering the hallway. When no one fired, Hortisson realized that was his command.

"Uh, shit, fire fire fire!" The dozen hands with him moved up from the barricades, firing off the comically oversized rifles fitting more for power armor rather than cook's uniforms. It took every scrap of strength in Hortisson's body not to simply fall over after firing a burst at the PACT intruders, and he watched as a trio of indents appeared on the bulkhead above the boarders, then one of the shields turn to face him. Apparently that was enough for the armory boys to start firing, a high pitched whine resonating from their generator for a second before the smoldering hole appeared on the side of the shield, continuing onward through the PACT soldier themselves, stopping deep into the bulkhead. "We've got fucking lasers," one of his men, Duvot, yelled. A cheer was up next as another whine erupted and hit the shield again, forcing the wielder down. Without his proper cover, the PACT soldier behind slammed a gauntlet on his comrades shoulder, then started to retreat behind the bulkhead, only to be peppered by rifle fire. The remaining two made for the exit as fire came from the other side of the bulkhead, more troops ready to take their place. The armed soldier departed, and the shield was soon to exit, only to be hit again by the laser and rifles. One pinged off the soldier's helmet and he collapsed backward, shield splayed across his front. "I… I got one? I got one! I got one!" Duvot was cheering again, happy to have made a difference in the skirmish right next to the guys with lasers.

Only to have a PACT shot ram right through his nose and throw half his skull straight into the wall behind him. Duvot dropped back, propelled by the slug alone, flopping back on the floor and was enough to convince Hortisson to get back down. Now was the chance for the other new addition to operate, firing his massive cannon thing right into the hole in the bulkhead. Hortisson briefly wondered why there wasn't any light coming from the laser thingie but figured it best not to ask over the sounds of PACT soldiers starting to scream. The first quartermaster's hand dropped his rifle and threw a double fist sized metal object into the bulkhead, and quickly yelled "Down," to anyone not already ducking. Even the cannon guy dropped just a second before a massive white flash appeared on the PACT side, followed by a second, bigger explosion. The two staff were back to their weapons, aiming down the hole for a second before urging two of Hortisson's men to check it out.

After seeing what happened to Duvot, no one ventured forth. So, in reluctance, the two lowered their laser weapons to the ground and grabbed a pair of rifles from the kitchen staff, heading over to the hole. A quick check showed nothing moving on that side, and the two quickly entered, immediately administering a very healthy dose of slugs to each PACT soldier's helmet, starting with the ones closest to the door. As they reached the boarding umbilical, one of the PACT soldiers reached up and pulled one of the men down by his thigh, dropping him and leaving the breath in his lungs up in the air. He pounded on the man's chest and midsection, a sadly successful sound of something valuable popping inside, then grabbed his sidearm and fired a shot at his head. The other hand turned just a second too slow, his rifle just a few inches off target, as the PACT survivor raised his sidearm. The quartermaster's hand resigned himself to his fate as he tried to fire, hearing the normal sound of a Cera Standard Naval Close Quarters Combat Rifle firing and cycling, and not the PACT sidearm.

Beside him was Hortisson and two of the kitchen staff, rifles aiming at the PACT soldier, Hortisson quickly switching out of the magazine in his rifle out with a fresh one. The hand turned to him and smiled, before nodding to the boarding craft. The unspoken offer of going on the offensive for just a short while.

* * *

"Clear!" A squad of Marines was standing before the entrance to the bridge, one of their number slumped over to the side with a squad of PACT soldiers appeared the same in the elevator only a few dozen meters ahead. The swapped magazines and did quick armor integrity checks, before contacting Shields.

" _Captain, another squad eliminated, we're clear for the moment. Any more incoming?"_

Shields threw his red-filled system display to another holomonitor and checked the internal sensors. "Negative Blackbird 2-2, it's all clear from our end. Once we're clear of Ryuvia we'll begin clean up detail."

" _Copy. Blackbird 2-2 on guard duty."_ He cut the line and resumed his review of the situation. With his pilot retrieved and her Ryder safe in the hangar, along with the wreckage of a PACT Ryder, Kayto had everything he needed to escape. Except, the battleship and converging PACT fleets weren't too keen on him leaving just yet. Or at all.

"Captain, I don't want to rush you but we're being boarded, and they're boxing us in. If we leave, it's literally now or never."

"I know Ava, I'm just… I'm just looking this over." She sighed and stood from her seat, manipulating his holomonitor display to show the local ships - a dozen or so cruisers and a battleship's broadside aimed right at them. "Here's the situation Captain, it's not going to get any better! There's no better chance here, there's no emergency reinforcements, it's right here and right now! Everyone is on board and we have to leave, now!"

Mcclain was silent, without orders to give, while Pfeiffer was quieter, trying not to draw attention as he controlled the damage control and security teams across the ship. Below them, the bridge crew was nearly as quiet, those that need not give orders silent as objections in a royal wedding. "I… I…"

"What, Captain? What's your great plan now? Because we can't go to the moon at this point and if we wait them out they'll blow us up! We need action, now!" He threw a fist down on his chair and pulled back his display. "Alright, goddamnit, alright. I think I have it."

"Then say it already."

"We can't get passed that battlesh-"

"Faster, Captain, we don't have time."

He sighed. "Fine. We blow through the battleship, rocket around Ryuvia and warp out. We don't need the moon, I'm not sure why we needed it in the first place."

"And how do you propose we 'blow through' the battleship? It's not like a corvette; we can't just run it over."

"Well, we used to not be able to. I bought a few pretty things Ava, including some generators..."

"Oh no."

"...and some electronics systems..."

"You didn't."

"...and then I had Chigara run a few tests…."

"You absolutely did not do that without telling me." Victory was his. "Yes, I did. Now, Commander, to your station. Mcclain, are we confirmed?"

"Full simulations run, one hundred percent chance of hellfire, for them, Captain."

"Then, Commander Crescentia, Lieutenant Commander Thompson, initiate the Vanguard System." Had they a few weeks or a couple of months, the crew of the _Sunrider_ would have had the Vanguard Assault System readied for battle, but the interruption by a certain super-battleship ended that plan. With some emergency repairs and supply runs, the engineering crew, with Chigara, jury rigged a solution to their lack of cannon. Essentially, the Vanguard is a massive laser cannon firing a continuous beam with the rest of the _Sunrider_ 's fore weaponry, initial tests showed the Vanguard capable of blowing through nearly half of the ships in the Ceran fleet within the blink of an eye.

Now, a PACT battleship isn't exactly the lower half of the Ceran fleet, but it is a ship vulnerable to an angry ghost ship. Shields thumbed a fingerprint scanner, opening up a pupil scanner at Thompson's station in weapons and a single storage input slot at Ava's station. The fact that this single ship could, in theory, obliterate half the fleet of Cera in an afternoon was enough to cause some concern, and this security system was devised - while a rogue agent could take the weapons department or even the bridge, they could not take both and have the CO, XO, and Weapons commander all under their thumb at one point. The system was designed to fail if either station failed to register within 5 seconds of the Captain's request to fire the Vanguard. Ava slotted the Vanguard storage device into its slot, generating a number of keys to engage the system while Thompson scanned and verified his identity, confirming the Vanguard's use. A final confirmation appeared at Mcclain's station, requiring his approval as well.

"Captain, Vanguard is primed, permission to fire?"

"Granted, Mcclain. This one's for Cera." He confirmed the order, and immediately the Bridge dimmed as the entire ship readied to fire the highest energy consuming device in Ceran history. Generators across the Engineering department hummed and whined as they began charging massive capacitors buried deep within the _Sunrider_. The _Sunrider_ was perfectly capable of operating its Vanguard without the generators, however, their purpose was twofold - the Vanguard could be fired faster, for longer, and the warp drive could spool up in half the time, or less.

"Vanguard is charged Captain. Firing in three… two… one… Firing." The Saviors fired off, heading straight for the battleship less than a dozen megameters away, and were soon followed by the dozen Trinities and the Vanguard itself. First, a red blob appeared deep inside the _Sunrider_ , like within the Trinities, but instead of being fully directed energy, it radiated, causing a massive, 60 meter wide red to white beam to fire directly at the battleship, slowly burning through the metal and eventually appearing on the other side, scorching sensors and ships alike. "Captain, we have penetration."

"Excellent, I knew it'd work. Rotate the _Sunrider_ , helm, I want a hole bored through that monster that we can slide through." Immediately the _Sunrider_ began to rotate upwards, the Vanguard cannon following in suit, slowly coring the battleship and scraping enough of a hole for the _Sunrider_ to fit.

"And after we ruin that battleship, Captain?"

"Oh, well, getting to the moon for a gravity assist is out of the picture. So instead, we'll use Ryuvia. Like I said, I don't know why we wanted to use the moon, Ryuvia is safer and better."

"Point made. Anything else should know?"

"Yeah, to keep your hands and feet inside the _Sunrider_ when we're fighting PACT. Helm, get us through that hole, flank speed, initiate Gravity Assist around Ryuvia once we're clear." Slowly the Vanguard Cannon died down, fading away, and the _Sunrider_ pushed forward with all the power their new generators had, slowly escaping through the battleship with minor cosmetic damage near the Captain's Quarters. And a few boarding craft scraped off.

"We're clear, initiating turn." The _Sunrider_ began to orbit Ryuvia, beneath any other PACT ships in orbit, just low enough to be truly affected by the planet's gravity. "Are you completely sure we're not going to be blown out of the sky, Captain?"

"Well, considering that they just killed their King and the defense fleet still likes Ryuvia, my money is on them firing on us whether Ryuvia is behind us or not. The only difference is Ryuvia might fire back." One of the marines yelled out and the squad fired down the hallway, taking out a few PACT soldiers trying for the bridge again. Another problem to deal with after not dying, Shields thought.

"Entering Ryuvian orbit Captain, definitive energy spikes coming from nearby frigates! Sensors are showing kinetic batteries aiming for us!"

"Mcclain, fire aft Saviors as deterrent only, let them know the _Sunrider_ isn't running just yet!"

The rear facing Savior batteries rotated toward two separate cruisers that were closest to the _Sunrider_ , firing off three shells each. None hit, but they were enough to convince those captains to look for a better spot not fire from. "Twenty percent through the assist Captain, warp drives are spooling up and generators are maxing out!"

"Keep it up Engineering, I want everything we've got not shooting back right into those engines!" A similar defensive system was in place in engineering, though the marines down there had the benefit of scrap metal barricades to stave off a few slugs here and there, instead of the lack of cover for the bridge team. A smaller number of PACT boarders were piled near them, the bulkhead at the end of the hallway covered in impacts. "Forty percent captain, warp capacitors charging!"

A pair of impacts rocked Shields in his chair, and a light flickered - and a series of red flashes appeared across Ava and Pfeiffer's holomonitors - simultaneous kinetic and laser attacks. "Sections 18, 109, and 34 are dead Captain, and we've lost half our port side point defenses!"

"Sixty percent!" Shields failed to respond, staring at his tactical display, and the massive energy signature on the side of the planet opposite the Star Palace. A behemoth of a ship, four _Sunrider_ s in length and four times as strong. Lasers and Kinetic systems dotted her hull, a series of massive square indents in her midsection indicating missile bays. And complementary keel-mounted laser cannon, the only weapon not pointed at the _Sunrider_.

The _Legion_. Cera Killer. Pfeiffer, realizing Shields wasn't listening, checked his displays, as did Ava and Mcclain. Each reacted in a different way - Ava tensed up and prepared for the worst, while Pfeiffer scurried back to his monitors, observing the fight inside the _Sunrider_. Mcclain actually smiled at the sight of the _Legion_. Shields found words to put their thoughts to.

"Fuck me."

"S...Seventy percent Captain."

The forward Saviors of the _Sunrider_ rotated to face the _Legion_ , while her operable Trinities did the same. "Cap… Captain, we've got a massive energy build up. She's… She's abou-"

"Helm, hard to port, Mcclain, fire everything we've got and distract it! Helm, how close are we?"

"Eighty five percent!" The Saviors and Trinities fired at once, each aimed at independent targets across the _Legion_ while the _Sunrider_ started to turn away from the planet and out into void space. "She's firing Captain!"

"And so are we! Helm, full warp! Get us out of here!" The _Legion_ launched a massive volley of fire, lasers flowing directly into and through the _Sunrider_ , piercing even the deepest and strongest of her hulls. Shields would later find out that included half of the recreation center. However, before any missiles or shells could impact, the _Sunrider_ burst from Ryuvia, headed into an unspecified random part of space far away, with several random jumps to follow.

For all intents and purposes, the People's Alliance for Common Treatment had its most public humiliation and there was no way to find retribution against the attackers. For the moment.

* * *

"Ms. Brooks, this came in from Prophet. He says it's for your eyes only."

"And who is it from?"

"Wouldn't say Ma'am, he had two of his big guards with him so I'm almost positive it's from _him_."

"Okay, thank you Rita, I'll check it out immediately." The secretary nodded and deposited a holopad on the desk, then scurried away and shut the door behind her. The Vice Secretary immediately booted it up and checked for obvious messages - two. One encrypted and locked, while the other was completely open - were the holopad hooked into a wireless network, even the most basic understanding of snooping would have access to it. She opened the latter first.

 _Brooks,_

 _You know exactly why I'm sending you this and why I had it delivered by your courier. If you don't then I've been overestimating you for a while now. Either way, read this before that next one._

 _We all know how this is going to play out. And your aid tells me exactly where you stand on the issue at hand - money before sides. I get that, I really do. So before you destroy this entire pad, read the whole thing through._

 _Before you do, shut off all your recording devices. All of them. Send your assistant out to the hall. And I swear if you read words out loud you send that assistant and everyone nearby out a few halls down._

 _The password is a certain planet. Can't miss it._

Brooks quickly checked and disabled the recording devices, noting it in the log, then readily typed in the dead planet into the password box. As if by magic, it decrypted and opened up as another text letter.

 _Can't be too sure._

 _Don't sell anything to PACT. Not a single scrap. Funnel it all into the Alliance. And maybe some to me. Because we know that PACT isn't exactly big on the being nice thing, and I know for a fact that they've taken a few of your neutral outposts already. So sell to the Alliance, because even though you might drop into the red, you and I both know that if the Alliance wins, you'll make infinite money by buying up planets for their ore._

 _It's not the most ethical thing but it'll be the best decision. For the first time in your company's history, make a difference in the galaxy aside from your own pockets._

 _The_ Sunrider _is off doing some things, so, I expect your reply within a week after the big event. By the way, I hope you guys are good about recorders too because this one is going to be a doozy. I might even break even because of it._

 _Armor_

She smiled and started to laugh at the request, then read it again. And again. And on the third pass she realized he wasn't joking, and more importantly, he was right. She pinged her assistant.

"Rita, get me the board. We've got a big meeting to make."


	13. The Unforgiving Blade

_A/N: This is the fun one. Also might make someone mad, if I'm good._

* * *

"Warp successful Captain, we've entered void space and we're not being followed."

"Jump once more when the engines have cooled, just to be safe Commander."

"Of course Captain."

Shields opened a display of damage control and another for security teams on the _Sunrider_. The former were scattered about the ship, all working, while the latter were scattered about the ship, moving between duty stations looking for boarders. The sensors were working full time to scan the entire ship, but with the confusion of battle even getting IFF tags off each crewman was difficult. And that's not even getting started on the damage done to the hangar after that PACT mook tried breaking in. "Captain, permission to speak freely?"

"Of course Ms. Crescentia."

"That was one hell of a rescue mission, sir. Truth be told, I thought we were done for when the _Legion_ appeared."

"And like the heroic good guys should, we bested the evil and continue on our quest." Pfeiffer chuckled while Mcclain threw a thumb up with one arm. "Always have and always will Captain!"

"So, what's the plan for the _Sunrider_ now, Captain? We don't exactly have many leads to follow." Shields continued to stare at the tactical displays, pumping his fist when a security team neared a red dot which blinked out. "Oh, what? Right, right. For now, we eliminate all hostiles on board and then get to a repair platform. I think we'll have to head for an Alliance one, maybe rest at some point. Though, there is another matter."

"Is it the communique we received a while ago?"

"Yes, that one. If we can fix up a majority of our repairs I want to head out there immediately, if not, we head for Alliance space first. If those boys survived to this point, then they'll survive a few more days."

"As much as I'd love to return, you're right, it's best we get to Alliance space first Captain." Ava stretched an arm out of sight of Shields. With hostiles still on board and without a major security crew in place, all crew were still confined to duty stations without escort. Too many lost before Ryuvia, by this point, losing a crewman could mean a major blow to any department, even Deck. Shields pinged Aguirre's comm unit. "Aguirre, how's the sweep going? I want to let people get some rest by the end of the day."

" _Top floor secure sir, anyone in mess, quarters, or med bay are free to roam on your order. We're still sweeping cargo bays now. You should be able to clock off by the top of the hour, sir._ "

"Good, keep up the good work. How's our cook friend, by the way?"

" _Doing wonderful sir, a bit shaken up but I'll trust his beef stew a bit more after all of this I think."_

"Beautiful. Tell him to brew up a few gallons for celebration."

" _Will do. Aguirre out."_

"And now all we have to do is wait for repairs to resume. This shouldn't take so long, eh guys?" They all sighed, a universal truth known that his comment would mean it just take longer to leave. Shields hung his head in mock defeat and pinged the Hangar crew. He was surprised to see Commander Brown on duty in the hangar.

"Commander, how long until the hangar is operational again?"

" _Shouldn't be more than a few hours Captain, at least to get the shuttles out without danger. The Ryders, well, this wreck is going to take a day or so of work."_

"A day? Commander I didn't know we gave that many breaks anymore. I thought we banned all breaks for that matter." Brown chuckled on the other end. _"Aye, there's no breaks down here Captain. You have to remember, the boys down here managed to crush it with the docking system, I'm honestly surprised they figured out how."_ There was snickering in the background. _"So we have to salvage the wreck, toss the useless junk, then we have to fix the docking system."_

"And there's absolutely no way it can go faster?"

" _Unless you can find me a few dozen Chigaras, no sir, it's gonna take a day._ "

"Wouldn't we all love a few dozen Chigaras…"

" _What's that?"_

"Nothing! You've got 20 hours Commander; I want Ryders ready to patrol our local space as soon as possible."

* * *

Hortisson was starting to realize just how bad of an idea it was to save the armory guys from before and offer to help clear the ship. Granted, he was going to have to help clear the ship anyway considering there were only twenty marines left to clear a ship that had more hallways than Cera had red light districts, but the armory guys just kept going out to clear. He and his mess crew had gone back to their mess hall as a group, keeping the weaponry until the all clear was announced. While they stayed back to guard the mess hall as a gathering point and temporary medical suite, Hortisson and the quartermaster's duo went straight back to the armory, met up with some more crewmen volunteering for clearing detail, and were now in hour four of their infinite sweeping detail.

Hortisson was expecting some kind of hazing or riffing for being a cook on patrol detail, but after three sweeps he realized no one wanted to talk during this - too dangerous. Already they'd engaged a PACT boarding team holed up in a storeroom and dealt with them without any casualties, solely because they were mouthing off to each other and not keeping an eye on the surrounding. When he wasn't fighting for his life Hortisson realized just how heavy that rifle was and just how hard it was to shoot someone. Granted, a pair of guys with guns that literally melted anything not a bulkhead or hull helped a bit but it was still sickening smell cooked flesh.

When they asked if he'd rather leave, Hortisson waved them off, standing back straight and nodding. When a few patted him on the shoulders and nodded, he felt like he'd moved up in the _Sunrider_ from cook to honorary crewman.

The walking still sucked though.

* * *

"And he's in here, right?"

"Yes sir, file says he'll be in here without a doubt." The four marines marched to the door, guarded by a pair of soldiers in similar armor. The approaching four saluted, and presented their papers for scanning. "Can't be too careful these days guys, never know who's trying to come around." The soldier that spoke nodded and a small green light was flashing next to his face. "Everything's in order, comes in clean. Mind telling us what's the big deal?"

"Sorry, can't do that. Orders from up top, you know how it goes."

"Oh yeah, we get it. Well, good luck guys, whatever you're doing." He keyed a command into a HUD keypad while the silent soldier did the same to a physical one, and the door opened. Inside was a mess of an office room as intelligence officers scurried around, some communicating with officers across the ship while others were busy discussing amongst themselves. Only one man noticed the four men enter - a secretary near the front of the room. "Gentlemen. I don't have you in the logbooks; I'll need to see your reason to be here or I'll get security on you. You know how it is, lockdown and all."

"But we just showed security our papers, they let us in!"

"They don't know the big guy's schedule, I do the real checks here." The first marine sighed and produced the orders once more, handing the paper over to the man in almost casual apparel. He pulled out a pair of books and flipped to seemingly random pages, checking over the half dozen papers that represented the orders. "Well, he's clear at the moment, I'm not so sure he'll enjoy this though."

"We don't really care, sir, we're here to do our job."

"Yeah, I know, I just… I don't believe it, alright? I really don't believe it's happening."

"Considering what he's done, this has been a long time coming. You of all people should know that."

"Fine, fine, I'll open the door, go on in." He handed back the orders and started typing on the terminal on his desk, a series of locks being opened from the secured door at the end of the room. No one even noticed the four marines walk on and enter the room. The man behind the ornate wooden desk looked up, expecting some aide to report on the status of some far off border system. He gasped and dropped his pen seeing the marines before him, staring him down, weapons drawn.

"Admiral Harold Grey, you are hereby placed under arrest for crimes of treason against the Solar Alliance." The marine presented the orders and moved behind the desk, pulling Grey out of his seat and handcuffing him, doing a quick inspection for weapons before pushing him away from the desk and leading out of the room. Now everyone in the intelligence room stopped and stared, seeing their commander and for all intents and purposes the second most powerful man in the Solar Alliance arrested and dragged away. The Marines and criminal piled into the elevator and started the slow ascent out of Solaris' hidden military base buried deep underground, towards the waiting court.

* * *

 _Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

 _Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

"Do you mind not tapping your fingers over there Roger? It's getting really goddamn annoying!"

"Look I'm just trying to pass the time Benny, just like you and your leg tapping!"

"Both of you, quiet!" The two turned and bowed their heads at Kayto. "Just because we've only been here… oh, five hours more than we should have, but that doesn't mean we should start yelling matches in front of the Captain!"

"Yes sir."

"Sorry sir."

"Good. You're both being confined to bunks for the rest of the Ceran day." Shields was going to joke with 'if we get out of the bridge' but it was cut short with one of the marines entering the bridge. "Captain! Top decks are clear and next rotation is coming in, should be out of here in two!"

"Make it one, Petty Officer, we're getting Cabin Fever!" No one laughed, that joke already expended several times. After five hours without food or rest, actually having to pay attention as the ship was healing itself and the crew stressed about whether or not they'd be killed before getting to their bunk because of boarders that weren't yet purged because the security staff wasn't large enough, well, people got a little tense and anxious. Aside from cleared decks, the shuttles were able to enter and exit the hangar without major harm to worry of, now tasked with ferrying useless junk out of the _Sunrider_ instead of letting it pile up. The marines were more than likely going to be on duty for the next day clearing the ship. Some were already taking stims and it worried Shields whether or not he'd have to slow the clearing for rest. It was quick decision to do exactly that. The story of a cook he'd brought on board helping clear was nice and he made a mental note to check if there were any ribbons he could reward the man with.

The bridge doors slid open and revealed the dozen personnel that were to rotate with the crew on station now, walking single file and taking their places one at a time. It was an old Ceran superstition, a story really, of a ship that switched their bridge officers all at once and with some dramatic flair. A pirate fleet ambushed them during the rotation and caught them off guard, crippling the ship. Whether or not this was in space or on water wasn't recorded, but either way, it was enough then to maintain a regulation stating each rotation must be one at a time. First the Captain and their secondary, then weapons, operations, helm, engineering, Ryder management, medical, and finally, Deck. In the twenty minutes it took for each officer to get reacquainted with their stations, Shields' crew hurried out and straight for the elevator, everyone looking for some much needed rest.

Shields waited at the elevator, offering a thanks and commendation for their actions previously. Some, like Pfeiffer, simply took the compliments and went to bed, while others like Craze had a short discussion and had to wait for the elevator to return after someone else passed by. Once his crew was accounted for and off the bridge, Shields finally stepped on board and waited the few seconds to reach his floor. He negated to pass through sickbay at this point, choosing to head over after he'd had at least a few minutes of shut eye.

No one greeted him at his door, which he expected, and no one greeted him inside either, something he was relieved to find. After quick ping to Harker to inform that he was inside his quarters and no longer taking fan mail, Shields was out, ignoring the blinking message on his holomonitor.

"You think he's okay though?" Sola sighed, tired of answering Chigara's questions. "I have seen enough men in his place and I know he is fine."

"It's… It's just he's not acting like himself all the time anymore."

"And how long have you known the Captain?"

"I… well…"

"That is my point. We do not know Kayto Shields like Kayto Shields does." Chigara sighed and stayed silent, accepting her point. Asaga was busy hugging her Ryder and complaining about someone else sitting in her spot, while Claude waited by the door to rush down Shields who she presumed would enter at any moment. Icari hadn't even left their Ryder yet, still drawing power. Without anyone else to talk to that wasn't working, Chigara tried to converse with Sola but a series of one word answers stalled any conversation. That was until Chigara asked her about Shields, the only person she actually talked to. And she managed to get over forty words out of her too, a new record.

Chigara looked down from the railing, at the technicians busy breaking apart and shipping off pieces of the PACT Ryder, at Claude waiting in front of the main exit, and at the single technician with a welding torch next to a man in red and black with his hands tied behind his back. The prisoner. She wanted to ask the men how long it would take to leave, but Chigara knew they didn't know, and didn't want to be bothered. She'd offered to help but they rebuffed her, something about taking apart a Ryder different than putting one together. Watching them, she realized they found it both enjoyable, and fulfilling. They couldn't fight PACT directly, this was their chance to interact with PACT in some way they could control. It was almost therapeutic, she thought, for them. I wonder if Kayto is that therapeutic… Ava always seems better after talking with him

"Chigara? Did you say something?"

"W-what? No, nothing."

"Are you sure? It sounded like you were speaking of the Captain."

 _Crap_. She was speaking out loud. She didn't even have to look in a mirror to know her cheeks were as read as the scrap below. Chigara was about to respond when one of the exit doors slid open and revealed a dozen marines, armor scarred and impacted from recent battle, making a quick visual scan for PACT boarders. Without any threats, their leader threw up a thumb and then headed for the prisoner, doing a quick exchange with the impromptu guard. They dragged the man off and several men followed, their brains shut off in favor of their stomachs or their drooping eyelids. Claude ran off with them, headed with the former, as did Asaga. Sola exited through the other door, off to the observatory. Chigara then realized it was probably not a terrible idea to get something to eat, trying to catch up with the near sprinting Asaga.

A few minutes later, the Phoenix opened up and revealed Icari, who stood up and looked into the, for all intents and purposes, deserted hangar. "Wait, did I miss something?"

* * *

It took all of Arcadius' power to not begin to rage at the news his subordinates brought. The delays he understood - he didn't care for them but he understood, and the mutinies, he understood just as well. But the latest direct insult to his Empire was unthinkable, and more importantly, nearly crippling. "You have confirmed it, Fontana?"

The kneeling form looked up. "Yes, my lord. The Mining Union has decided to restrict sales to us for the duration of the war. They have said they're doing the same to the Alliance, but our spies report the opposite in almost every major manufacturing center. The Mining Union has chosen their side, Arcadius."

"How far back will this set our invasion?"

"At least a week, lord, possibly longer."

"A week. A week until we can attack the Alliance and destroy them once and for all?"

"Yes, lord. While Cullen is confident he can manage the assault himself immediately, my staff have predicted otherwise. I presumed you would rather hear this news over his." Fontana stood, shaking his legs individually to remove any errant dust or dirt. "Of course, Fontana. When will your fleet be ready?" The First PACT Battlefleet was comprised solely of veterans from the other major fleets, a rumor spreading that the total amount of served time greater than the Ryuvian Empire's age. Fontana had acquired command several years ago, now running it as Arcadius' bodyguard and attack fleet, only moments away from him, if ever away.

Cullen had the Fourth PACT Invasion Fleet, a second class fleet of the newest and most loyal to PACT that could be found. What regularly losses he took were quickly replenished, compared to Fontana's inability to risk lives. Until recently, it had been divided many times to expand across the Neutral Rim. It waited a few hundred light years away from Alliance territory, making repairs and filling bunks until told to attack. That Arcadius would rather his veterans supplied over the invaders meant he either planned to take both into battle, or expected Cullen to fail.

"In a week's time as well my lord, though that is a more strict line. My staff report Cullen may take longer to be ready."

"Ensure your fleet is prepared as soon as possible Fontana, let Cullen take what you do not."

"As you command. Will the _Legion_ be joining the fleet or will it continue in its flotilla?"

"When the time comes, the _Legion_ will sortie with the First once we leave Ryuvia. Would you rather move your staff to the _Legion_ or stay on the _Persephone_?"

"With regrets my lord, we will stay on the _Persephone_. My staff has made accommodations and are getting settled, more efficient that way."

"Of course, Fontana, of course." The two stared down to the ancient rock below, the many millions of citizens on its surface unaware their king was dead and their princess escaped once more. The PACT Propaganda section was quite adept at spinning the attack story, though; it was easy to tell not everyone accepted their message without question. Only time would tell if the people would find out the truth of Operation Wedding Crash.

* * *

Kayto considered himself a light sleeper - you had to be to get through Ceran High School on four hours a night and four hours in class. He remembered a few rumors of his being able to sleep with his eyes open at one point in Academy, but those were just rumors. But now? Shields was completely out after staying on duty for a rotation longer than usually allowed in fleet, having to conduct a battle of four distinct parts then manage the ship while known infiltrators were on board. The chance to rest was one not ignored in the Ceran fleet, and Kayto Shields was no exception.

Several hours after he'd hit the massive bed next to the massive observation window, he awoke, rolling over to swat at an alarm that didn't go off. He threw himself upwards, failed, and again tried to sit up, this time succeeding with a hand behind himself. "Man, if I wasn't captain," he mumbled, taking a pause to yawn and rub his eyes, "I'd be flogged in a heartbeat." He giggled to himself for a moment before swinging his legs out of bed and attempting to stand, this time on the first try. A quick inspection showed he was still in uniform, which meant a quick disrobing and switching over to a fresh set of service uniform, only to realize he'd left his ribbons and name tag on the previous uniform. After a quick hunt for where he'd lazily thrown them off, Kayto acquired his stylings and checked them twice in the mirror after stabbing them on - nearly perfect, as he liked.

Now fully awake and able to work, he sat at his desk, opening the terminal and letting a trio of holomonitors flash up. One blinked that usual indicator of a high priority message, one that definitely couldn't wait. He opened it and checked the timestamp - hours before he'd gone to sleep. _Shit_. What else was curious was the sender's address - a military office on Solaris, the Naval Court of Criminal Affairs. Shields was confident of two things, the first being the fact that Cera was definitely not under Alliance Jurisdiction and two, he had not committed any crimes against the Alliance, only helped it.

 _To the Captain of the CSF_ Sunrider _,_

 _Though you are not officially registered as an Alliance Auxiliary, you have been named as both character and act witness, as have the following members of your crew, in an appeal trial of Admiral Harold Grey. You are hereby commanded to summon to the Solaris Naval Court of Criminal Affairs to stand witness. You have exactly three (3) standard Solaris days to confirm acceptance of this mail and arrive at such time. Failure to accept these summons may be met with levies against your person and up to and including banishment from Alliance Space for lifetime._

 _Just because you exist outside our chain of command does not mean you may act outside it completely._

 _THOSE CALLED FOR SUMMONS:_

 _SHIELDS, KAYTO_

 _CRESCENTIA, AVA_

 _ISIDOLDE, ICARI_

 _Dated 8356 Solaris, David Andrews reviewing_

Kayto immediately lurched forward, reading the message twice over, focusing on two things. One, that Admiral Grey had already been court martialed and, if Alliance law was anything like Ceran law, given the death penalty, and two, that he was now required to make all haste there when he knew PACT was about to make their next move. Immediately he pinged the Public Relations Officer, Anderson, for a conference at best time, and sent an urgent request for Ava and Icari to meet him the moment they were awake. With that, he immediately make a search in the database for legal counsel, ranging from Ceran summons to accepting punishment from foreign dignitaries; without the normal legal protection the Ceran Naval Office offered, Shields needed to take a crash course in protecting himself and his crew.

* * *

Ava was, for the most part, not a mad woman. She could be angry or fierce, some would say indignant at rule breaking, but she was not a mad woman. Kayto Shields found out that, in fact, his years of interacting with her on the Student Council were completely wrong, when he told her the news. Immediately she sound locked the door and began her tirade. "Summons? We've been summoned by the Solar Court? How the hell did they find us and call us for summons?"

Icari was, on the other hand, completely calm. "I'm still failing to see the big deal here. We show up, tell them Grey's a great guy, and leave. No big deal." Ava was having none of it, and Kayto was more than happy to let her handle it. "Icari, you're pretty much one level above criminal so I'm going to assume you don't really know about military legal systems, do you?"

"Not really, I'm good at not getting caught."

"So is Kayto but what's important here is knowing exactly how bad this is. In every civilized military, anyone can be court martialed, no big deal. You won't even hear about it 90 percent of the time because there's no appeal to any decision made. But when that decision involves death, discharge, or confinement, it goes to appeals and then the real trial begins. Guess what? In the span of the last month, they managed to find, convict, and sentence Admiral Grey and only now are getting to the appeal process."

"So what? He can still win, he's Admiral Grey for heaven's sake."

"In three days? And they're specifically calling for us three? Yeah that's either a nice trap because they've connected us or they're hoping we won't show up and Grey will be screwed."

Finally, Kayto spoke. "What, you think that no one else spoke up about Grey?" She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sure literally everyone but the prosecutors, hell, even them, said something good about Grey. But remember, he commands Emerald Fleet, the most public part of the Alliance Navy and known around the galaxy. So it's tough to find people that can't say something bad."

"And they found us? Grey paid under the table, through three separate informants, each of whom said they scrubbed their accounts and now I'm realizing there were diplomats that easily could have seen the _Sunrider_ and recognize her." He looked at Icari. "Maybe even the Phoenix." She paled. "You want to mention something outside of your near massacre, Icari?"

"S-suffice it to say Grey wasn't always careful about payment, Kayto." Shields drew in breath from his nose and exhaled the same, clicking his tongue afterwards. "Yeah, you know what, that makes perfect sense. No reason this should be easy. Alright, here's how we're approaching this. From this point onward, we are to believe they know only the diplomat's view of the incident over Versta, that a Ryder escaped and then was recalled to the _Sunrider_ and it looked like it was going to attack. Ava, I want the techs to remove the _Phoenix's_ melee weapons and make her cannon look bigger. If we're lucky, they'll believe it was a Ryder getting to close to cover."

Icari raised and shook her hands immediately when he mentioned the _Phoenix_. "We're taking away my weapons? No no no, I can't let that happen, those mean too much!" Before Ava could respond, Kayto slammed a first down next to his keyboard and pointed at her with his other hand. "You were literally seconds away from slicing that ship up and killing everyone on board so I am not giving them any evidence that you were about to do that, Ms. Isidolde. You should be thankful I'm not throwing you to the goddamn wolves right now because I'm sure they'd love to hear your orders were to kill them all! Don't forget that the Alliance has known objection clause in their code, saying 'Oh but it was just orders' isn't a defense anymore!" Icari lowered her hands and head, accepting the rant Kayto was on. "Now I am not going to let one of my crew go down because of this, so from this point onward, we are doing everything possible to not look like we were about to kill those diplomats, alright? The best case scenario is Grey is absolved and nothing happens but the worst is that we could all end up Alliance Prisoners!"

"Captain, I think you're going a bit far…"

"Even if I am, I'm being safe about it! From this point onward, no one talks to Alliance personnel, no one interacts with Alliance personnel if they can help it, without you or me present Ava. That goes double for you Icari. Ava, get a report out to everyone, ASAP. You are dismissed." She saluted, then departed the room, while Icari stayed, like a child being punished by a parent. "Icari. You and I both know you're guilty. The only thing really saving you right now is the fact that you're legally a Ceran Auxiliary. So, from this point onward…" She looked up, hopeful when his voice changed tone, "do me a favor and don't kill any diplomats." The Guard outside the Captain's Quarters failed to hear the slap Icari delivered to Shields, and only nodded as she left, intent on staring down a hallway and not even acting like he didn't hear anything.

Unable to take a stop in the infirmary, or the recently closed cafeteria/hospital hybrid, Shields travelled directly to the bridge almost an hour after the conference between the two other named witnesses. A quick check with the guards posted at the entrance to ensure he was really Kayto Shields took less than a minute, and he had his usual seated position in another. "Commander Crescentia, status report."

"All decks report no PACT Activity Captain, it appears we're clear of any infestation. Engineering reports a minor degradation of engine power and capacitor storage with the repeated charging and discharging from Operation Wedding Crash. Weapons have cycled and made repairs, we've got 80 percent of the Trinities active, and a similar number of point defense operating. Saviors are fully operable, and we've got a pair of hell darts in the tubes. Operations reports nothing major and quick recon by the _Seraph_ backs this up. No sign of the militia from before, Captain, it appears we've lost them."

"Anything else, Commander?"

"Nothing worth noting Captain, I've sent the full report to your station for review."

"Excellent. Helm, target Solaris. Half ahead speed. Engage warp once we're clear of major gravity wells, we need to get there as soon as possible." Pfeiffer looked back. "Solaris, Captain? Are we coordinating with the Alliance on some op?" Kayto sighed. "No, no Pfeiffer we are not."

Down below, Craze called up to the Captain. "Engines answering half ahead speed Captain, maneuvering to target Solaris. Warp in… 23 minutes."


End file.
